Dempsey's Mistake
With 11 days and three games, including todays match against San Jose, left for the Seattle Sounders in June, they will be facing it without Captain America, Clint Dempsey. The Team USA star and forward fro the Sounders has been suspended by Major League Soccer (MLS) for three games and fined a undisclosed amount of money following an incident in Tuesday’s match against the Portland Timbers.
Dempsey did not start in the match against Portland. He entered into the game, which was part of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, in the 71st minute. The match went into extra time, and trailing Portland 2-1, frustration overwhelmed the 32-year-old forward. Earlier in the match, Dempsey’s USMNT teammate Brad Evans received a red card and Obafemi Martins was …show more content…
down with an injury. Seattle was down to nine players on the pitch. In the 113th minute, Seattle’s Michael Azira was given a red card, leaving the Sounders trailing Portland and now down to eight men.
Dempsey drew a yellow card after taking the notebook from referee Daniel Radford, according to MLSSoccer, and threw it to the ground in the 114th minute. Dempsey then picked the notebook back up, tearing it up which the official match report called abuse, and that drew the red card out of Radford’s pocket to be issued to Dempsey.
While MLS understands heat of the moment, the expect all of their players to respect the game in its entirety. According to Mark Abbott, the league Deputy Commissioner, Dempsey did not show that respect and the three game suspension was warranted.
The Seattle Times reports that the Sounders all breathed a big sigh of relief at the three game suspension.
U.S. Soccer takes referee abuse seriously. Abuse is tagged with a minimum ban for three matches, which Dempsey received. He could have easily had his actions labeled assault, which carries a minimum six match ban.
It is not over for Dempsey though. U.S. Soccer will be ruling next week that could impact the forward’s eligibility for the Open Cup next year. If the suspension went beyond the three games, and into July, it could have kept Dempsey out of the Gold Cup in July and the USMNT friendly on July 3 against Guatemala.
Sports Illustrated released details that Dempsey’s suspension came directly from Don Garber, the commissioner for MLS, and not the disciplinary committee for the league. This brings up the question if Dempsey was given special treatment because of who he is and what he brings to Major League Soccer.
What Dempsey brought Tuesday night to the Seattle Sounders was a tirade reminiscent of former Seattle Mariners skipper Lou Piniella. All that was needed was for the forward to locate a second base bag to throw or kick a baseball cap around for 15 minutes. Regardless of the comparison, it has hit the Sounders and without Dempsey on the pitch, in his first game suspension, the first place Sounders were trailing the fifth place San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 at the
half.
Dempsey did not start in the match against Portland. He entered into the game, which was part of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, in the 71st minute. The match went into extra time, and trailing Portland 2-1, frustration overwhelmed the 32-year-old forward. Earlier in the match, Dempsey’s USMNT teammate Brad Evans received a red card and Obafemi Martins was …show more content…
down with an injury. Seattle was down to nine players on the pitch. In the 113th minute, Seattle’s Michael Azira was given a red card, leaving the Sounders trailing Portland and now down to eight men.
Dempsey drew a yellow card after taking the notebook from referee Daniel Radford, according to MLSSoccer, and threw it to the ground in the 114th minute. Dempsey then picked the notebook back up, tearing it up which the official match report called abuse, and that drew the red card out of Radford’s pocket to be issued to Dempsey.
While MLS understands heat of the moment, the expect all of their players to respect the game in its entirety. According to Mark Abbott, the league Deputy Commissioner, Dempsey did not show that respect and the three game suspension was warranted.
The Seattle Times reports that the Sounders all breathed a big sigh of relief at the three game suspension.
U.S. Soccer takes referee abuse seriously. Abuse is tagged with a minimum ban for three matches, which Dempsey received. He could have easily had his actions labeled assault, which carries a minimum six match ban.
It is not over for Dempsey though. U.S. Soccer will be ruling next week that could impact the forward’s eligibility for the Open Cup next year. If the suspension went beyond the three games, and into July, it could have kept Dempsey out of the Gold Cup in July and the USMNT friendly on July 3 against Guatemala.
Sports Illustrated released details that Dempsey’s suspension came directly from Don Garber, the commissioner for MLS, and not the disciplinary committee for the league. This brings up the question if Dempsey was given special treatment because of who he is and what he brings to Major League Soccer.
What Dempsey brought Tuesday night to the Seattle Sounders was a tirade reminiscent of former Seattle Mariners skipper Lou Piniella. All that was needed was for the forward to locate a second base bag to throw or kick a baseball cap around for 15 minutes. Regardless of the comparison, it has hit the Sounders and without Dempsey on the pitch, in his first game suspension, the first place Sounders were trailing the fifth place San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 at the
half.