03/26/22 Charlotte FC vs FC Cincinnati Bank of America Stadium (5PM ET) REF: Alex Chilowicz AR1: Mike Rottersman AR2: Matthew Nelson 4TH: Lukasz Szpala VAR: Fotis Bazakos AVAR: Jeff Muschik Sporting Kansas City vs Real Salt Lake Children’s Mercy Park (7PM ET) REF: Joe Dickerson AR1: Brian Dunn AR2: Cameron Blanchard 4TH: Victor Rivas VAR: Jorge Gonzalez AVAR: Jonathan Johnson 03/27/22 Portland Timbers vs Orlando City Providence Park (4PM ET) on ESPN REF: Marcos DeOliveira AR1: Jeremy Hanson AR2: Adam Wienckowski 4TH: Ramy Touchan VAR: Edvin Jurisevic AVAR: Fabio Tovar
04/02/22 Chicago Fire vs FC Dallas Soldier Field (3:30PM ET) REF: Pierre-Luc Lauziere AR1: Logan Brown AR2: Jose Da Silva 4TH: Calin Radosav VAR: Geoff Gamble AVAR: Peter Manikowski FC Cincinnati vs CF Montréal TQL Stadium (4PM ET) REF: Tori Penso AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Ben Pilgrim 4TH: Luis Arroyo VAR: Jon Freemon AVAR: Jonathan Johnson Toronto FC vs New York City FC BMO Field (4PM ET) REF: Drew Fischer AR1: Cory Richardson AR2: Jason White 4TH: Silviu Petrescu VAR: Carol Anne Chenard AVAR: Chantal Boudreau Columbus Crew vs Nashville Lower.com Field (6PM ET) REF: Rubiel Vazquez AR1: Chris Elliott AR2: Meghan Mullen 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Eric Weisbrod D.C. United vs Atlanta United Audi Field (7:30PM ET) REF: Armando Villarreal AR1: Ryan Graves AR2: Brooke Mayo 4TH: Guido Gonzales Jr VAR: Younes Marrakchi AVAR: Jeff Muschik New England Revolution vs New York Red Bulls Gillette Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Victor Rivas AR1: Brian Dunn AR2: Gjovalin Bori 4TH: Chris Penso VAR: Edvin Jurisevic AVAR: Fabio Tovar Orlando City vs Los Angeles FC Exploria Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Joe Dickerson AR1: Gianni Facchini AR2: Kevin Klinger 4TH: Matthew Corrigan VAR: Rosendo Mendoza AVAR: TJ Zablocki Philadelphia Union vs Charlotte FC Subaru Park (7:30PM ET) REF: Timothy Ford AR1: Corey Parker AR2: Kevin Lock 4TH: Ismir Pekmic VAR: Jorge Gonzalez AVAR: Tom Supple San Jose Earthquakes vs Austin FC PayPal Park (7:30PM ET) REF: Alex Chilowicz AR1: Jeffrey Swartzel AR2: Tyler Wyrostek 4TH: Lukasz Szpala VAR: Kevin Terry Jr AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert Inter Miami vs Houston Dynamo DRV PNK Stadium (8PM ET) REF: Allen Chapman AR1: Jeffrey Greeson AR2: Andrew Bigelow 4TH: Joshua Encarnacion VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero AVAR: Claudiu Badea Minnesota United vs Seattle Sounders Allianz Field (8PM ET) REF: Ismail Elfath AR1: Micheal Barwegen AR2: Adam Garner 4TH: Thomas Snyder VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Craig Lowry Vancouver Whitecaps vs Sporting Kansas City BC Place (8PM ET) REF: Fotis Bazakos AR1: Ian Anderson AR2: Lyes Arfa 4TH: Ramy Touchan VAR: Alejandro Mariscal AVAR: Rene Parra Colorado Rapids vs Real Salt Lake Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9PM ET) REF: Ted Unkel AR1: Kyle Atkins AR2: Tiffini Turpin 4TH: Ricardo Fierro VAR: Kevin Stott AVAR: Joshua Patlak 04/03/22 Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy Providence Park (4:30PM ET) REF: Nima Saghafi AR1: Nick Uranga AR2: Cameron Blanchard 4TH: Lukasz Szpala VAR: Jon Freemon AVAR: Jonathan Johnson
Anyone know why we haven't seen Mendoza, Stott and Petrescu yet in the middle? Are they hurt or something?
Thought Elfath was less than stellar in the Minnesota-Seattle match. Missed what looked like a pretty strong PK shout when a Minnesota defender looked to trip Morris in the box near the byline early in the first half, and then gave a questionable PK to Minnesota late in the 2nd half when one of their attackers tried to knife/jump his way through three Seattle defenders.
PRO Statement: TOR vs NYC April 2, 2022 PRO media The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) acknowledges that a significant officiating error occurred in an important match situation in the eighth minute of the game between Toronto FC and New York City FC. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) incorrectly determined the awarding of a penalty kick to be a clear and obvious error, as the selection of camera angles examined did not reveal foul contact from Toronto FC’s Kosi Thompson on New York City FC striker Talles Magno. While an available camera angle did reveal foul contact, that alternative camera angle was not examined by the VAR, nor was it made available to the referee on the pitch-side monitor. The referee changed his decision and rescinded the penalty kick. PRO can confirm that the awarding of a penalty kick was not a clear and obvious error, and the referee’s initial decision should have been allowed to stand. http://proreferees.com/2022/04/02/2022-pro-statement-tor-vs-nyc/
You wonder on this kind of foul if Fisher would have the confidence to stick with it despite the lack of confirming video evidence. I mean, you can tell on the replays shown that you don't get the right angle. I'd like to think that a referee would be confident enough to know "I saw contact, and I don't see a replay that shows it wasn't there." But maybe he was only 75% on the original call, in which case I'd understand the reversal. All around though, not a good look.
It’s the 1998 Baharmast question we asked before VAR was implemented. If a referee was correct but video couldn’t prove it, what would he do? Here’s the answer. And it’s not surprising. The risk for Fischer personally is much higher if he rejects evidence from a crew member he’s supposed to trust. I haven’t heard the audio, but so long as Fischer is asking if there’s any other angle he needs to see, I don’t see how he can be faulted.
I saw this on Tori Penso's Instagram page — does anyone know if MLS is planning to shift to fully centralized VAR?
A straight red? Portland is down to 10 men after this red card 🟥 pic.twitter.com/GqbpvGMQ7h— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 3, 2022
Not a good end of half for Saghafi in POR:LAG. No call on a clear foul that ended with a possible head injury. There was no call because he made the mistake of looking up field too soon. Follows that with a red for a shove on the shoulder.
Was a shove not a punch To the shoulder, not the face. super quick pull of the red. never should be a red
Because his form was so bad. If VAR reverse that aggressive and quick of a red card, the ref looks like a fool.
Now he’s had 5 yellows and a 2nd caution red in the second half. I have a feeling there will be more to come before this game is over.
He’s having a game I’d imagine he is hoping to forget very shortly after he leaves the pitch. Just not good.
Even if the player is looking for it. And he was as he dragged the foot. If you still hit the attacker and take him down, it should be a pk.
The fact that you think that is even in the same galaxy as how MLS VARs operate is astounding. It’s a deliberate strike at a dead ball. That used to ALWAYS be a red card. Things have become more lenient over time in some competitions, yes. But the idea that it’s “clearly wrong” to show red for that because it didn’t hit the head is, well, clearly wrong. Violent conduct can still occur even if the head isn’t struck in a situation like this. The struck player didn’t go down or hold his head—Saghafi knew it didn’t strike the head. Saghafi called what he saw. He decided that a deliberate strike of the opponent rose to the level of violent conduct. Nothing about the decision is “clearly wrong.” It anyone wants to say it’s harsh, fine. We’ve seen yellow suffice for that sort of reaction. So I won’t argue if people prefer a yellow card. I might prefer a yellow card. But that’s the point. It’s about preference on a subjective decision. Neither color is wrong for this per se. So it’s not a situation where VAR should intercede. Long way of saying if you want to criticize Saghafi, go ahead. But if you want to criticize the VAR here or, worse, assign nefarious motives to him, then it shows you have no idea how VAR is supposed to work or what considerations go through the mind of a well-trained VAR.
Not to mention, at full speed (and if you're judging this at anything other than full speed, you're already doing it wrong), excessive force is an exceedingly plausible decision, perhaps even the expected one. It's a solid whack.
I’ll also bring up that it’s a different story if Saghafi tells the VAR he’s seen contact to the face or head. If that’s the case, a review here becomes much more justifiable - but assuming he’s seen it correctly, this is a subjective matter and the VAR should support him.
The Saghafi piling on from a couple is kind of funny. I only watched a bit of the game, and I don't have a dog in the fight. I'll leave the first red alone, it's already been discussed. But if you're up a man, and on a card, don't give the ref an easy SPA. Just don't do it. That's a card 100% of the time if the defender isn't on one. It's a 2CT 100% of the time if you are up a man. On the PK, the attacker drags his right foot to create the contact. He's even looking down at his right foot, making sure. The VAR had a quick look, and sent down "Check Complete". Good call by Saghafi in my view.
Um, yah, that's a straight red. For me anyway. At the least it is a crowd control red. I could buy a caution to the instigator too, but only barely. But put me down for a straight red on that.