A bitter history with referee Jair Marrufo fueled Sporting KC’s anger

Into the early morning hours after Sporting Kansas City settled for a contentious draw with the LA Galaxy, captain Matt Besler picked up his phone and did something he has avoided for the past several years.

He logged onto social media only hours after a game.

“I’m pissed off,” he began a post. And after complimenting the fan-supplied atmosphere at Children’s Mercy Park, he added, “Unfortunately it gets overshadowed by certain decisions out of our control. That’s what pisses me off.”

The sentiment carried throughout the Sporting KC locker room Saturday night, some responses calmer than others, some more subtle than others, but all of them directed toward referee Jair Marrufo, who found himself in the crosshairs of a handful of disputed calls.

In a three-minute postgame rant, with only one brief interruption, Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said, “unfortunately we were playing against not only the other team but unfortunately the referees on the field.”

Two calls factored most prominently into the outcome. Marrufo awarded a penalty kick to the Galaxy that led to its only goal, and he did not call or even review a play in which Sporting KC striker Diego Rubio absorbed a fist to the side of his face, which, if whistled, would have led to a game-winning penalty kick attempt.

In the postgame locker room, several Sporting KC players who spoke to The Star— but did not want their names mentioned for fear of receiving a fine from the league — pointed to the man at the center of the calls.

“We knew it would be like this tonight,” one said.

“Look at our record with him on the field,” said another.

OK, let’s.

Sporting KC has won only two of its past 16 matches with Marrufo serving as the center referee, according to statistics gathered from Transfer Markt. The club is 2-8-6 during that stretch, which dates back to Oct. 16, 2010. Marrufo, who worked this summer’s World Cup, has handed out 29 cards to Sporting KC over that time frame. He’s given 14 to its opponents.

No team in Major League Soccer has a worse record with Marrufo on the field since 2011 than Sporting KC, tallying the 21 teams that have seen him at least three times. Sporting KC is one of only three MLS teams to make the playoffs in all eight of those seasons.

For comparison’s sake, here is the club’s record since 2011 under each center referee who has been assigned to at least five Sporting KC matches:

Allen Chapman: 8-1-0 (2.67 points per match)

Edvin Jurisevic: 9-1-2 (2.41)

Ismail Elfath: 8-2-1 (2.27)

Jorge Gonzalez: 7-2-3 (2.00)

Jose Carlos Rivero: 5-2-2 (1.89)

Kevin Stott: 8-3-4 (1.87)

Mark Geiger: 8-4-2 (1.86)

Ted Unkel: 3-2-0 (1.80)

Robert Sibiga: 3-1-3 (1.71)

Silviu Petrescu: 2-0-4 (1.67)

Chris Penso: 6-3-6 (1.60)

Baldomero Toledo: 10-8-4 (1.55)

Juan Guzman: 4-4-0 (1.50)

Hilario Grajeda: 5-4-4 (1.46)

Drew Fischer: 4-4-2 (1.40)

Armando Villarreal: 4-3-7 (1.36)

Dave Gantar: 3-5-0 (1.13)

Alan Kelly: 4-7-4 (1.07)

Ricardo Salazar: 3-6-5 (1.00)

Sorin Stoica: 1-2-2 (1.00)

Jair Marrufo: 2-7-6 (0.80)

As you’ll notice, only one referee has been assigned to Sporting KC matches more often than Marrufo since 2011.

So what can Sporting KC do about it? I asked Vermes that very question Saturday.

“What can I do? I can’t do anything with the league. It’s not me. It’s up to them,” he said. “They have all kinds of evaluators and all these other people. I mean if you sit back and evaluate that game based on what I just said, it’s obvious. It’s obvious. What I am disappointed (about) is when I look at our team, I look at the work our guys put into it, the way that we play — to have the points taken away from them based on (the referees) performance is what I have a problem with. And I will stand up and defend that every single day, every single game that we have for this club as long as I am here.

“I will not stand for that. Because we expect high standards of our players. We expect a higher standard of play. And we expect the same thing from the league and (Professional Referee Organization). And right now, that’s not happening. That didn’t happen tonight.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2018 at 2:08 PM with the headline "A bitter history with referee Jair Marrufo fueled Sporting KC’s anger."