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MLS Disciplinary Committee suspends Alvarez, fines Porter and Hackworth

Carlos Alvarez

By DAN KARELL

Major League Soccer’s Disciplinary Committee announced on Thursday more fines and a suspension to three individuals.

The Committee announced that Chivas USA midfielder Carlos Alvarez is suspended for two matches and fined an undisclosed amount for violent conduct. The incident in question occurred last Sunday at Sporting Kansas City, when Alvarez kicked the ball at SKC midfielder Peterson Joseph as Joseph was on the ground after a foul.

Alvarez will serve his suspension in Chivas USA’s next two matches, May 12 against the Portland Timbers and May 19 against Real Salt Lake.

Also announced on Thursday is that Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter and Philadelphia Union manager John Hackworth were fined an undisclosed amount for public criticism of the match officials following their most recent matches.

What do you make of the news? Agree with the suspensions and fines?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Perez had a hold of Baptiste and tried to drag him to the ground with him.. and then let go at the last second as he fell, that call was laughable at best

    Reply
    • Shhhh, be quiet, too much Timber fan boy bias. Just ask Darwin above. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Maybe people should actually watch the replays with an UNBIASED opinion. As I mentioned above, AJB definitely had contact, but Blas is a diver, plain and simple.

      Reply
  2. Wow, that missed handball call was atrocious.

    Just wondering — Alvarez gets a yellow for kicking the ball at a prone opponent barely a yard away, but Juninho gets a red card for toe-poking the ball at Jimmy Nielsen from 15 yards away?

    Reply
    • The missed handball in the seattle vs philadelphia game was bad but I really believe those things even out over time, like on wednesday KC got away with a very obvious handball against seattle in the box. I get why the coach went on a rant about it but every team suffers through bad and generous calls throughout a year, it happens

      Reply
  3. Hackworth was correct in his critism of them game officials. The disciplinary committee has shown it has no idea how to properly manage suspensions. Eddie Johnson should have gotten red in game. There were so many bad calls it was impossible to count. Plus the ref lost the game for the Union with the clear missed call on a obvious hand ball at the end of the game. Hackworth is right the refs suck in this league. I see better officiating at my sons travel games.

    Reply
    • You are correct. At first glance, from the far away angle, it did not look like a PK. Then i saw another, closer angle, replay and it was a clear hand ball. The Ref either did not see it or did not call it for whatever reason. It is unfortunate.

      Reply
  4. I can’t get enough of the Timbers fanboy bias on this site. Perez definitely sold it, but Jean-Baptiste gave him legitimate product. If it weren’t for all the fanboys, we would be talking about his mistake and inexperience over Perez’s sale and the ref’s purchase.

    Reply
    • On the plus side, how about Kenny Cooper’s penalty? He drilled it perfectly.

      I’m just glad he didn’t hurt himself slipping on the beer-soaked pavement when he went to celebrate with the North end supporters.

      Reply
    • Oh hey, Perez initiated the contact but don’t let that get in the way of YOUR bias. Ives did a pretty damn good article on the dearth of PKs Portland received. FINALLY got one in Colorado, Jesus it took long enough. AJB is young and inexperienced and there most certainly was contact, but Blas is a diving pussy so why the hell would you call that….off the ball….when you are that for away from goal for HIM when that crap goes on everywhere, all the time? I can’t stand Dallas’ cynical play, Castillo is fabulous but our glass man Cooper can hardly stay on his feet.

      Maybe it’s the turf, oh wait, it’s grass. Dallas is a disgrace to the league with how they always dive and exaggerate fouls. It will cost them dearly sooner than later.

      Keep banging that chicken.

      Reply
  5. Caleb Porter crossed the line in his criticism, although he was right to believe that the Timbers were robbed with call against Baptiste, which resulted in the penalty kick that gave dallas their only goal on the day. IMHO Blaz Perez played the referee like a violin, just like he frequently has against the USMNT in CONCACAF qualifying matches.

    Reply
    • Porter did cross the line, but he has a legitimate axe to grind (did you see that). Hopefully some make up calls are on the way and the fine will be worth it.

      Reply
    • It was a penalty, and I’m a Houston Dynamo fan and hate FC Dallas. Yes, it was a foul, and yes, it was in the penalty area period. There is no such thing as a “soft penalty”. It either is a foul in the area or it isn’t. This was a foul.

      Reply
    • If you look at the play you can see the denfender has a grip on perez’s arms and
      Perez is trying pull away but is being pulled by the defender – yes perez pushed
      but that was in an attempt to break the grip – ends up getting pulled down – if you look
      at Perez afterward his shirt is pulled up – The ref had to call it as he saw Perez getting
      pulled down. Perez helped I am sure but it is still a penalty.

      Reply
      • Sometimes I wish soccer had a concept of offsetting fouls or yellow cards, or something. In a case like this both players were fouling each other in the box. Many refs will not give a foul/penalty in that sort of situation, and perhaps they shouldn’t as the illegal behavior of the players balances out in the run of that sort of play.

        However, the refs can, and in this case did, call a penalty. Which rewards one players illegal play, and severely punishes the other.

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