Major League Soccer referees have been locked out ahead of the beginning of the 2024 season set to begin on Wednesday evening with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami set to play Real Salt Lake.
Related: MLS referee lockout: Messi’s Miami set for stand-in refs after union rejects CBA
The Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), the labor union representing referees who work MLS matches, condemned the lockout by the MLS and the league’s referee employment organization. The lockout, a denial of employment by an employer during a labor dispute, was imposed on the referees after they overwhelmingly voted to reject a tentative new union contract agreement in a 95.8% vote, with 97.8% of the 260 union members voting.
“This is their weak attempt to apply economic pressure, and MLS is sacrificing the quality of the game to do that,” said Peter Manikowski, president and lead negotiator for PSRA, in a statement on the lockout initiated on 18 February. “We call it like it is – and this is a foul.”
The union has also alleged unfair labor practices against the MLS and the Professional Referee Organization. The union cited members rejected the deal in part due to an attempt by the MLS and PRO to add a no strike and no lockout deal for the 2024 season and would have frozen wages, rolled back job security protections, and not addressed issues such as high workloads and travel for referees.
A potential work stoppage would also complicate the introduction of new league rules for the upcoming season, specifically those aimed at cutting down time wasting. MLS has taken a leading role in enforcing the International Football Association Board’s mandate to boost the amount of time the ball is in play over 90 minutes. Ifab is the governing body that determines the laws of the game.
After experimenting with new rules in MLS Next Pro, a developmental league, MLS will introduce the most stringent time-wasting rules in world soccer for the 2024 season. A new rule devised to cut down on players feigning injuries will require a player to leave the field for three minutes to receive treatment if they remain on the ground for more than 15 seconds. MLS reported that over the 18 months of implementation in MLS Next Pro, there was an 80% reduction in stoppages due to players receiving on-field treatment.
There will also be a crackdown on time-wasting during substitutions. A rule change will require a substituted player to leave the pitch within 10 seconds. If not, the…