Major League Soccer has come under fire for its handling of the referee lockout, as the 2024 season enters its second month.
WHAT HAPPENED?
MLS has been without its elite-level referees since February 18, when the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) locked out their pool of officials, the Professional Soccer Referee Association (PSRA), over a lack of agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). As a result, MLS drafted in a host of ‘replacement referees’ to officiate the start of the 2024 season. With an agreement over a new CBA still far away, those officials remain entering into the second month of the campaign. That’s despite them coming under fire for numerous abysmal decisions, with LA Times writer Kevin Baxter the latest to make a scathing assessment of the situation.
WHAT BAXTER SAID
In Tuesday’s column for the Times, Baxter wrote: “At a time when Lionel Messi’s presence means more of the world will be sampling MLS than ever before, the league has put its games in the hands of referees who are clearly overwhelmed and underqualified. The results have been embarrassing, yet the league continues to gamble its reputation — not to mention millions of dollars in potential sponsorships and global recognition — to save the $95,000 per team it would take to bring the regular referees back this season.
“PRO brought in replacement officials to start the MLS season, but there really is no replacing the regular ones. The top-tier officials who work for PRO have recently proved to be among the best in the world, with center referee Tori Penso leading a four-person U.S. officiating crew in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final in Australia, one which included assistant referee Kathryn Nesbitt, one of two Americans to work the last men’s World Cup final in Qatar.+
“Imagine the league replacing a top MLS player such as [Lionel] Messi with a minor league player and trying to pass them off as equals. Yet that’s exactly what is happening with the officials. And as the contract negotiations remain stalemated and the frustration among coaches and players grows, MLS commissioner Don Garber has made it clear that getting things right isn’t nearly as important as winning the showdown with the referees’ union, even if the integrity of the league suffers — which is already happening.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
As MLS enters it’s second month of the campaign, the first four weeks have already been marred by countless officiating mistakes that have gone on to be costly. Standout examples include replacement referee Rafael Bonilla giving a throw-in to the wrong team in week 2, which allowed the Philadelphia Union to equalise against Sporting Kansas City in stoppage time. That same weekend the official for Inter Miami’s south Florida derby with Orlando City was removed after pictures emerged of him wearing a Herons shirt.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID
Drama continued into last weekend’s action, when Montreal boss Laurent Courtois was incredulous after his side’s agonising 4-3 loss to Chicago. He claimed that two of the opposition goals shouldn’t have counted, and that Fire keeper Chris Brady should have been sent off in the second half. “Twenty-two added minutes, red card on the [Chicago] keeper that isn’t given… their third goal came from a corner that shouldn’t have been, their first goal was offside,” Courtois said after the match, per The Athletic. “Something was taken away from my guys.”
In the error-strewn 3-3 draw between the LA Galaxy and St. Louis City that same weekend, Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida weighed in on the situation, telling reporters: “I’m going to get fined. I hope [PSRA] makes a deal with the league as soon as possible. That’s [a] shame. That’s it.”
WHAT NEXT FOR MLS?
MLS seem to be no closer to reaching an agreement with the PRSA. Commissioner Don Garber, with PRO on his side, appears to hold all the cards at this stage. His comments to The Athletic last week suggest a solution is not forthcoming. “PRO is going to continue to sit down and negotiate with the PSRA to hopefully reach a resolution – but if there’s no resolution to be reached, we are more than prepared to see this all the way through,” he said. “We have officials that we think are doing a really good job, our players think they’re doing a good job, our coaches think they’re doing a good job.”
