Managers are known to talk about referees. In Major League Soccer, though, the discussion around officiating has entered a new realm. The league’s regular referees are sitting at home amid a lockout that shows no sign of ending anytime soon. Games are being refereed by replacement officials drafted in from the lower levels of US soccer, Turkey, Poland, Jamaica and other leagues, and people are starting to notice.
CF Montréal head coach Laurent Courtois had a long list of complaints after watching his team lose 4-3 to the Chicago Fire. “Twenty-two added minutes, red card on the [Chicago] goalkeeper that isn’t given, their third goal came from a corner that shouldn’t have been, their first goal was offside,” he reeled off. “Something was taken away from my guys.”
Dean Smith also had something to say about “a stonewall penalty” Charlotte FC were denied in a 2-1 defeat to Nashville SC, while LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney vented about the questionable officiating in his side’s 3-3 draw with St Louis City, which saw Martín Cáceres sent off in stoppage time.
Related: What the MLS referee lockout means for North America’s top soccer league
By and large, managers and players initially stayed out of the ongoing labour dispute between MLS (via the league-funded Professional Referee Organisation) and the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), but more and more are now speaking out. As a product, the league is poorer for having substandard referees. At a time when more eyes than ever before are on MLS thanks to Lionel Messi, it’s become a problem.
Don Garber is doing his best to insist it’s not. MLS, according to the commissioner, is “more than prepared” to use replacement officials for as long as needed. MLS vice-president Nelson Rodriguez was reported to have written in an internal memo that the replacement referees are just as good as the striking PSRA officials and have “[maintained] consistency in officiating quality.”
The evidence, however, contradicts that. There have been more overturned calls using VAR per match so far this season than in 2023. PRO GM Mark Geiger said in an interview with ESPN earlier this month that, using PRO’s own points-based system, the replacement referees have failed to meet the standard set by the usual referees in 2023.
“Officiating is not an exact science,” Garber told the Athletic. And he’s right. But Garber is treating managers, players and fans with contempt by pretending…