MLS announced on Wednesday that the club have been punished for violating the league’s mass confrontation policy in the 0-0 draw with FC Cincinnati on Sunday.
The league states that an incident in the 56th minute, wherein players including Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Bernardeschi, and Richie Laryea approached the referee to call for a foul after Kevin Long was caught by an opponent’s follow-through as he cleared the ball into touch, constituted a “mass confrontation” of the nature prohibited under MLS rules.
Consequently, Laryea, Bernardeschi, and Insigne have been penalised an amount not yet announced by the league’s disciplinary committee for inciting and/or intensifying a mass altercation. Players who were also in the vicinity and voiced complaints, like Shane O’Neill and Deybi Flores, were not punished. The club has received a formal warning, as has head coach John Herdman.
Although the event didn’t seem serious enough to be classified as a “mass confrontation,” Major League Soccer is trying to provide its officials with greater safety.
The league is currently using replacement referees from pro, college, and youth soccer while its A-list of refs remain at the centre of a labour dispute. The Professional Soccer Referees (PSRA), the union that represents officials that work MLS matches, and its employer, the Professional Referees Organization (PRO), are locked in collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
TFC are back on the road again this weekend to face New England Revolution in Foxborough, Mass. How big a part Insigne will play in the game on Gillette Stadium’s turf remains to be seen. Herdman said post-game on Sunday that “we’ve got to manage him like he’s a Ferrari and make sure he’s looked after… Games on turf are a problem for him, for sure. The fans will just have to accept that…”
For Herdman and Insigne, one eye is already on the home opener at BMO Field on March 9 against Charlotte FC.
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