It was a busy day in the MLS head offices on Friday as in addition to handing down the $1,000 fine to Charlie Davies, they also fined the Los Angeles Galaxy $5,000 for omitting David Beckham from their injury report and the New York Red Bulls $10,000 for an official statement GM Erik Soler made that criticized the refereeing during their match against the Portland Timbers. The fine against the Red Bulls is among the steepest in league history, but was probably enhanced because it was made on official team letterhead:
MLS Fines LA Galaxy $5,000 For Not Listing David Beckham On Injury Report, Erik Soler $10,000 For Criticizing Refs
"We have carefully reviewed the film of our match against Portland last night and I can safely say that the level of refereeing was absolutely below the standards of what is required for a MLS match and completely unacceptable. First, the red card given to Thierry Henry was inexplicable. There was no violent conduct on his part whatsoever and this decision was made by a linesman who was more than half a field away. Second, in any soccer game, there is no way that one team can draw 20 more fouls than the other team, especially in a match where one team drew just five fouls. I have never seen this occur in my 30 years in the game.
"We are aware that U.S. Soccer and MLS are working hard to improve the officiating in this country and we support those efforts wholeheartedly. However, if we want to continue increasing the level of play, we cannot let these types of refereeing performances occur. We look forward to speaking with the League to appeal Thierry's automatic red card suspension and expect that it will be rescinded so that he is available for our match Thursday in Seattle."
In explaining the fine against the Red Bulls, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said this: “The statement released by Red Bull New York this week undermines our substantial efforts to continue improving all aspects of our competition.”
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