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Jeff Carlisle, US soccer reporter
Two weeks into the NFL regular season, one of the biggest stories that has nothing to do with it has emerged Lionel MessiThe star-studded Inter Miami CF, the seemingly revived LA Galaxy, or the last-placed New York City FC. It’s the league’s continued use of substitute referees that has sparked an ongoing and controversial conversation in the North American game.
The Professional Referees Organization (PRO) – which is funded by Major League Soccer – banned referees from the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), the referees’ trade union, on February 18 when the PSRA overwhelmingly rejected an agreement in principle (TA). Negotiated between PRO and the PSRA Negotiating Committee. Negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) have since not gone well, with PRO threatening to replace the CBA with an offer containing reduced terms if it is not approved by March 11.
More than 10 substitute referees were selected from the top three leagues in countries such as Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico and Poland. 18 others are former or current national referees in American soccer. Other officials were brought in from the lower classes, universities, and youth in the United States.
The pros, and by extension MLS, are essentially betting that the gains at the negotiating table will outweigh any harm done by using substitute referees. At the start of the lockdown, the approach sparked stern warnings from the likes of the Major League Soccer Players Association about how it would impact games and player safety.
This is especially notable considering that PSRA President Peter Manikowski told ESPN that the compensation and benefits increases in the association’s latest offer, when compared to the initial agreement, would cost “less than $95,000 per team in 2024.” Escalators in later years would push that amount up.
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Two weeks later, the football sky has not necessarily fallen, but there have been controversial incidents.
In Week 1, the big talking point was a second yellow card issued to LA Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado late in the team’s match against Miami. He was penalized for a fake foul Sergio Busquets Which set the table for Messi’s equalizer in stoppage time. Delgado’s expulsion was eventually overturned. Busquets, who fell theatrically on the play Admit that the yellow card should not be givenBut the Galaxy didn’t get those two extra points back.
Last weekend, there was a foul on a throw-in in stoppage time of the match between Sporting Kansas City and Philadelphia Union. That led to the Philly angle, which in turn led to Alejandro BedoyaTie. When a reporter asked him about the play, referee Rafael Bonilla said the ball bounced off an Al-Ittihad player. Replays showed otherwise. Even Philadelphia manager Jim Curtin admitted afterward: “It was their throw-in.”
Perhaps the most embarrassing incident of all occurred before Miami’s match against Orlando City on Saturday. Pictures appeared on social media of the central referee of the match, Guilherme Sirita, wearing an Inter Miami shirt. To its credit, the PRO moved quickly to remove Serreta from the job, replacing him with the scheduled fourth official, Jaime Herrera, but it raised questions about the thoroughness of the vetting process for replacement referees.
In an interview with ESPN, PRO GM Mark Geiger, himself a former MLS and FIFA referee, said the PRO had already completed background checks on replacement referees and was also checking their social media accounts for conflicts of interest.
“Unfortunately, we’ve moved on from that,” he said, noting that there would be no changes to the PRO team’s vetting process. Geiger added that Sirita, who previously managed in Brazil, will still be used to officiate MLS matches, “but we certainly will not assign him to officiate any Miami match in the future.”
The extent to which Major League Soccer has been harmed by its continued use of substitute referees is open to interpretation. Among coaches and team executives, there is general recognition of the difficult position in which substitute referees have been placed. With the league issuing fines to players and coaches for criticizing referees even at the best of times, coaches are skirting that line when fines are imposed on players and coaches. He comes to replace the rulers. No one in the league has been fined for criticizing referees this season.
“There is a difference in the level of experience and control of the game. I see that. I’ve watched several matches on TV,” San Jose Earthquakes coach Lucie Gonzalez told reporters, referring to the substitute referees before last weekend’s match against the Galaxy. . “We had our own game and I think our referee did a fairly positive job. But look, it’s not easy for anyone.”
“To go into any new league where you don’t necessarily know the players, you’re not necessarily familiar with the players,” said one team executive, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the performance of substitute referees. Speed of play or style of play. I think it’s really difficult. “So I think any referee, whether you’re coming from the lower divisions of American soccer or you’re coming from the Premier League, there’s going to be a certain level of adaptation.”
From speaking with many people around the league, there is a belief that referees, even those in the PSRA, make their fair share of mistakes as well. As such, some feel that the difference between the substitutes and those in the union is not that great.
“I don’t feel like I’ve seen a lot of difference, no matter who is there, the caretaker referees or the regular original referees,” said Stephen Betashour, who spent 14 years playing for clubs such as San Jose. Earthquakes, Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC, Los Angeles FC and Colorado Rapids before retiring after the 2023 season. “I feel like the players and fans are going to complain about one thing or another.”
Beitashour admitted that Delgado’s position was a refereeing error, but he feels that it is difficult to judge the situation in real time.
“I’ve seen regular referees make the same mistake,” he said. “I don’t think it was too bad. I feel like they make some good decisions and then there’s going to be some natural mistakes. You know, they’re human.”
In a memo sent to the MLS Board of Governors on Friday, a copy of which was seen by ESPN, Rodriguez stated that the performance of substitute referees, “as evidenced by our key match indicators, is consistent with the professional standards observed in past seasons,” and maintaining consistency in the quality of management.”
In 2023, the professional used a four-point scale to rate referees on elements such as match control interaction with players, positioning, movement, teamwork and game management. A score of one means “significant areas of improvement”, a score of two means “minor areas of improvement”, three means “good” and four means “best practice”. PRO changed its rating system for 2024 to a three-point system, where one point means “below or at standard,” two means “above standard” and three points means “best practice.”
In 2023, PSRA umpires had an average rating above three over 493 games, Geiger said. In 2024, Geiger said the rating was two after 29 games.
Some basic numbers paint a picture of substitute referees making mistakes far more frequently than their union counterparts.
Yes, the sample size for 2024 is small, but according to ESPN Stats & Info, there have been 20 VAR incidents so far this season, with an average of 0.69 tackles per game. This is double the rate recorded in 2023 (including the qualifiers), when there were 172 VAR tackles, which amounts to 0.33 tackles per game. Calls are being overturned at a higher rate too, with 85% of VAR interventions in 2024 resulting in a call being overturned, compared to 61% in 2023.
Geiger said he was not surprised by these numbers. “[The PSRA officials] “They’re the top officials in… the USA and Canada, so you’d expect them to have a higher accuracy rate without VAR. So we kind of expected there would be more tackles,” he said.
To the trained eye, this is not the only area where substitute referees fail. George Gansner served as an assistant referee in Major League Soccer for 19 years until 2015. For 13 of those years, he was also an assistant referee in FIFA, where he participated in World Cup and Olympic qualifiers. He is also a former PSRA board member. He feels the lack of experience shown by the substitute referees is evident.
Gansner recalls a situation that occurred in the 72nd minute of the match between St. Louis City FC and Real Salt Lake City on February 24 when RSL was offside, but in that sequence, St. Louis got the ball back and broke up a potential counterattack. Instead of allowing play to continue, the offside goal was whistled and brought back.
“The assistant referee is out of position No. 1. It’s a very tight decision,” Gansner said. “No. 2 – and we are talking centimeters if he was offside at all – an experienced referee would have waved the flag and allowed the counter-attack to continue.
“It’s like, ‘Ah.’ That’s the kind of thing experienced referees don’t do.”
The presence of VAR could mitigate the use of substitute referees as errors can be caught – something that was missing in 2014, the last time the professionals shut down PSRA referees – but Gansner feels there is a downside to VAR having VAR intervene on a more frequent basis. .
“It can also happen with [PSRA referees]“But it’s the number of times it happens that affects the flow of the game,” he said. While substitute referees are not required to pass the same fitness test as PSRA referees, Gansner said there are issues with matchmaking and positioning, for example, which are not just about fitness, they are about experience.
“Being able to be on the field as an assistant referee, have something happen, turn around and be able to keep up with those guys in a lot of cases, there are very few people in general… who can do that,” he said. “They are able to change that quickly and keep up.” A 20-year-old. “He anticipates what will happen and is able to understand what could happen three passes before.”
All of this may seem like a small detail, but it adds up, and it hurts the on-field product by eroding the quality of the league — and the perception of that quality is what MLS has been trying to raise since its inception. Yes, it’s early in the season, but if the phone calls keep recurring, it’s likely that the patience that coaches, players and general managers have shown so far will run out.
As much as stakeholders in the game like to complain about referees, it’s important that the league tries to increase the odds of receiving calls correctly. This is not being implemented at the moment, and highlights the importance of PSRA umpires getting back on the field as soon as possible.
To this end, the union and management confirmed that the two sides met on Monday and Tuesday in New York. To hear both sides describe the talks, little progress has been made, with little or no movement on the potential terms of an agreement.
“We do not have a preliminary agreement at this stage, but we continue to work together to reach a solution,” Geiger said. “I think both sides want to reach a fair agreement that both sides can work through, and that will be fair to the members. So the sooner we reach that conclusion, the better for both sides.”
