The red card itself and any on field actions are the USSF's domain. The incident between United staff and a member of the Chicago Fire Football Club is a league matter. The United staff member does not work for the USSF he is a MLS employee, as is #10. It is a matter for MLS or the Montgomery County DA. I am fine with slow and steady but #10 needs to be punished and taught that that is not a line that is acceptable to cross.
I think the video evidence shows Blanco assaulting (or actually battering) Simms with the punch. I expect a USOC suspension at the least. MLS might be a different story. Garber will probably come out first and say you can't compare the passion of a soccer player to another sport, then say two weeks later after another incident, we're not hockey, everyone gets a suspension for aggresive behavior. And thus the wheels of MLS turn. Hard to say about anything that happend outside the gate because almost everyone here didn't see shit so its all speculation.
That and the staffer will probably get a memo from his boss about putting his hands on players since it's probably not under his authority to escort a player from the game.
I seriously can not wait until the next time these two teams play. That will be one for the ages. What's the over/under on red cards in that game?
From the far side of the field at the extra time halftime break, when this all went down, I saw Blanco on top of the hill being sent back to the locker rooms at the Plex and there was a ruckus as Burch was making his way up the same way. A United employee stopped Burch and held him in place while security (security, not police) were getting Blanco to go back to the locker rooms. Much kerfuffle took place before Blanco went on his way. I saw the cops heading toward the locker rooms later, after Blanco was escorted away. By then the second 15 was on….
And the memo would exist if the staffer and actually touched Blanco of his own volition. However he is tasked to escort players off the field after an ejection, a task he undertakes at RFK. All done without contact with the player. The only contact was initiated from Blanco's head. So please unless you were actually there feel free to comment more on your assumptions and beliefs.
Personally, I think any incident between an MLS player and anyone else either on or off the field is an MLS manner. If Blanco had been walking down the street and slugged someone, I think the MLS is fully within its rights to fine or suspend him. Case in point, while an extreme, Michael Vick will (hopefully) never play pro football again in the US because of his dog fighting conviction. While it was completely outside the NFL, they still have a reputation to uphold and some character standards. If Blanco is an ass on and off the field, it reflects badly on the MLS not to mention makes him a liability. If the MLS does nothing and the next time he really injures someone, you better believe that there will be at least a threat of a lawsuit again both him and the MLS. If they start cracking down on him, at least he MLS can say that they tried some intervention to keep him under control. Like Burch said, Blanco gets away with a huge amount of crap because of who he is. The MLS needs to step in before he really hurts someone.
In other threads, it's being stated that the staffer in question interjected himself, "to protect the 4th official" who was apparently under threat of grevious bodily harm from Blanco.
Why would MLS cover this up? Man this stuff would make for great media attention, and heighten the rivalry between Fire and DC. Any press is good press!
Luis Hernandez disagrees with you. What if Ben Olsen spit on a fan? Right, because two people going head to head is roughly equal to a federal racketeering indictment and animal cruelty case. He hasn't injured anyone yet. I don't think you understand the liability clauses that players agree to. I think it would be best if MLS clamped down on dissent and serious foul play, league wide, rather than focus on one player. He also suffers an inordinate amount of fouls because of who he is. Didn't you guys just get your handgun ban overturned for this type of stupid logic?
I'll just keep pressing F5 while you go off and find the evidence of his spousal abuse. Man, I can't wait for the whining when he gets little more than a slap on the wrist fine and a 3/4 game suspension from next years USOC.
We're not talking about his on-field dirty play. We're talking about his (alleged) assault of a non-player employee of the team. I guarantee you the non-player employees don't sign waivers allowing players to hit them just because they're pissed off at the world.