Head of referees’ organization says MLS officials are calling letter of the law

TORONTO – The general manager of the Professional Referees Organization (PRO) says the bar has not been raised on serious foul play in Major League Soccer this season — his officials are simply calling the letter of the law correctly and more consistently.

“What we see now is our referees applying law as law is written,” Peter Walton told a media conference call Thursday.

He says players and coaches were warned during video sessions in the pre-season

“It really should not be a surprise to people when they see players being dismissed for the challenges that we’ve seen in the first (five)weeks of the season,” said Walton, a former Premier League referee.

Still officiating and red cards have been a major talking point after five weeks of the 2016 season.

There have been 16 reds over 42 games. That compares to 14 over the same period last year and 11 the previous season. The average over the league’s 21-year history is 12 at this time of the season.

Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said too many red cards in this league are “ruining games.” Toronto coach Greg Vanney has complained three out of his team’s four matches have been impacted by the officiating.

Said Toronto captain Michael Bradley: “There’s just been too many games where at the end the referee has played way too big a part in deciding the outcome.”

Walton says 13 of the 16 reds this year were spot-on, with three perhaps open to debate.

He say the refs are issuing more straight red cards because “they are detecting and punishing” serious foul play as they should.

An analysis of calls last season showed the referees were correct 72 per cent of the time on red card situations, according to Walton. He blamed the calls that should have produced red but didn’t on poor positioning and poor movement by the officials.

This year Walton says MLS referees have been correct 85 to 86 per cent of the time on red cards for serious foul play.

Toronto midfielder Will Johnson expressed concern earlier this week that more red cards will lead to players milking the effects of a hard challenge.

“I haven’t detected that,” said Walton. “And I’d like to think that that won’t happen.”

But he said officials are mindful it could be a consequence.

Walton believes the number of sanctions for serious foul play will level off.

“I think over a period of time, players and coaches will modify their behaviour so that they are in sync with the laws of the game” he said.

More meetings, including an active referee, with the players and coaches are planned July on.

Walton says the emphasis on penalizing serious foul play has been in place since 2012 following a spate of 2011 serious injuries caused by dangerous tackles.

Walton says PRO has appointed an assistant referees manager who is in charge of improving “offside decision-making” and other matters for the linesmen.

This season, referees have also been tasked with clamping down on bench misbehaviour, although Walton says it has not been a big issue so far. Dissent is another no-no under the microscope.

On the issue of video replay, PRO says it is in the early stages of examining how it can be used and working with he International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs the rules of the sport.

“Will it make a difference to the game … Yes it will make a difference to the game,” Walton said.

PRO is responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee programs in North American pro soccer.

Walton has a pool of 13 full-time and 10 part-time referees, with most working an average of 15 games a season.

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