Toronto FC nearly pulled off a feel-good win on Saturday against the Chicago Fire. Some might even say they rightfully DID pull off a win. But Gilberto's apparent stoppage-time winner was waved on a controversial foul call. Judge for yourself:
Michael Bradley doesn’t seem to want Canadian referees working Canadian games
Or at least not David Gantar.
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Bad calls happen all the time (which of course is part of the problem but bear with us). So why is this one so interesting?
Well, Michael Bradley went off on Canadian referee David Gantar. And not just your garden-variety "he missed some calls" type stuff. Bradley effectively called Gantar unfit to be a professional, not only because he's a bad referee, but because he doesn't think Canadians can impartially call games against American teams.
What's even crazier is that this slightly conspiratorial screed is published on Toronto FC's official site. Here's the partial transcript:
“They continue to assign Canadian referees with Canadian teams playing against American teams,” Bradley said. “It’s obvious these guys are going to go make a conscious effort that they are not being biased one way or another. It’s not the first time we’ve had this kind of issue.
”What can you say? He’s not good enough. It’s unfortunate because we’re fighting for our lives. You see how much effort every guy here puts into it. To have two points taken from you at the end of the game, it’s just not good enough.
“The league can make all the excuses all they want, they can say they are working with PRO and bringing Peter Walton in and all this stuff, but at the end of the day it’s not even close to being good enough. Consistently they put referees out there who are in over their head. It’s a shame because they ruin games and totally decide the outcome of the game.”
Asked to clarify whether his issue with Ganter had more to do with the Canadian bit or the “not good enough” bit, Bradley responded, “It’s both. At the end of it you want to speak with him and get a little bit of an explanation, and he can’t even look at you.”
For what it’s worth, Fire head coach Frank Yallop (who is also Canadian, but that doesn’t seem particularly relevant here) didn’t quite understand the call either.
“It didn’t look like it was a foul, or whatever the ref called,” he said, totally ensuring that this would continue to be a talking point. “We got lucky on that one.”
It should also be pointed out that this is not the first time Gantar was in the middle of some controversy involving TFC. In July, he gave Nick Hagglund a red card in a match against D.C. United after initially pulling out a yellow.
What’s too bad in all this is Bradley does have a point, the Gilberto call was really bad. But unfortunately his kinda crazy, kinda paranoid belief that Canadian referees shouldn’t be allowed to work games involving both American and Canadian teams is the thing most people seem to be talking about. Ganter may be bad, but somehow it seems entirely plausible that if he were American that this call would be blamed on his deep-seeded hatred for maple syrup, as opposed to his deep self-loathing.
Anyway, Bradley is absolutely right about one thing: TFC are fighting for their playoffs lives right now. If they need to believe the whole world is plotting against them, that’s fine ... as long as it works.
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