By DAN KARELL
Major League Soccer made sure that the actions on Wednesday night between the Houston Dynamo and Montreal Impact would not be tolerated.
The league’s Disciplinary Committee announced in a release on Friday evening that Impact forwards Marco Di Vaio and Andres Romero have been suspended for the first three games of the 2014 season for “violent conduct and endangering the safety of their opponents.”
Both Romero and Di Vaio were shown red cards in the 89th minute after a frustrated Romero kicked at Dynamo right back Kofi Sarkodie while he was on the ground from a foul committed by Romero. As tempers flared and Sarkodie stood up to yell back at Romero, Di Vaio came in and on multiple occasions, putting his hands to the face of Dynamo players coming to the defense of Sarkodie.
Di Vaio was also fined $1,000 while Romero was fined $250 for their actions.
The Disciplinary Committee added a third suspension to Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear for leaving his technical area during the late-match scuffle. Kinnear will serve his suspension on Sunday when the Dynamo host the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2013 MLS Cup playoffs.
In addition to the fines and suspensions to players and coach, both teams were fined separately for “violating the league’s mass confrontation policy.”
The Impact were fined $25,000 for their fourth violation of that policy this year. The Dynamo were fined $5,000 for their second violation. The two teams were involved in an incident in August following a 5-0 victory for the Impact at Stade Saputo that earned the wrath of the Disciplinary Committee.
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What do you think of this news? Do you agree with the suspensions? Do you believe Di Vaio and Romero should have been suspended longer? Do you see Kinnear’s absence hurting the Dynamo on Sunday?
Share your thoughts below.