The Chicago Fire will be issuing fines to head coach Denis Hamlett and defender Bakary Soumare for their roles in a locker-room fight which took place at halftime of the Fire's 3-2 loss to the Houston Dynamo last Sunday.
According to sources with knowledge of the incident, Hamlett and Soumare were involved in a heated exchange that got out of control (though team sources insist that no punches were thrown). The fracas resulted in Soumare being taken out of the match at halftime. The team-issued press release called the event "an incident".
Soumare left the team the day after the Houston match to join the Mali national team on international duty in France, but has yet to train with the Fire since the incident and is not with the Fire in Kansas City for Sunday's match against the Wizards (sources tell SBI that he is away for family reasons). Soumare has been reportedly become the subject of a transfer bid from French club Boulogne.
"The locker room can get heated and we bring a lot of passion to our game days," said Fire technical director Frank Klopas. "The team has moved past this incident regarding Denis and Bakary and our focus remains on bringing the MLS Cup back to Chicago this season."
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