Sporting Kansas City players take notice of high rate of ejections

The referee reached in his back right pocket, and Sporting Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza knew his fate.

In the 84th minute of an eventual 1-0 win against Toronto FC last month, Espinoza received an early trip to the locker room for a challenge against Marky Delgado. He believed the red card was harsh, but he hardly argued. He says he knew it was coming.

Why? An offseason point of emphasis.

In the preseason, representation from the Professional Referee Organization and Major League Soccer met with players, coaches and technical directors and warned that a higher percentage of fouls would be receive red-card ejections.

It didn’t set well with some players.

“There were a lot of arguments in that meeting,” Espinoza said. “I’m 29 years old, and I’ve been playing like this my entire career. I’m not trying to hurt anybody. I know other players aren’t trying to do that either. We’re just trying to play our games. It’s in everybody’s DNA. But I (understand) we also have to be careful.”

Even more so now.

Tackles and challenges that once drew a foul are now resulting in much more serious consequences, players say. In four weeks, MLS referees have dished out 16 red cards, and the league disciplinary committee has retroactively suspended seven other players for incidents they believed deserved a red card under the new emphasis.

“There’s a lot of stupid tackles,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “I’m fully supportive of the way the league is going about it. I think the referees have done a tremendous job on this piece of the game. They are seeing (that) the tackles could potentially be season-ending injuries. They’re taking the appropriate steps. I believe it’s going to change behavior.”

The specific accentuation appears to be tackles in which the spikes of players’ cleats move into dangerous territory — the proverbial “studs-up” challenges. In the opening month of the season, players pointed to plays in which such challenges resulted in ejections, even when no damage was inflicted on the opponent.

In Sporting Kansas City’s opening match of the season, for example, Seattle defender Oniel Fisher was thrown out three minutes before halftime for a two-footed tackle on Connor Hallisey. Fisher didn’t make contact with Hallisey.

Ejection.

Sporting KC took advantage and won the game 1-0.

“Pretty much every single challenge that you go in with your studs showing has been a red card so far this year. There hasn’t been much leeway,” Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber said. “A lot of players have to be very cautious and know not to make any kind of egregious challenge with their studs showing, or else it will probably be a red.”

If it becomes a consistent, long-term measure — and the PRO has insisted it will — the players will have to adapt. That could be a slow process, especially from league veterans.

But will it be applied in the same manner in the postseason? There’s a consensus belief among players and coaches that the game is refereed differently in the playoffs — that refs can be less inclined to eject players in such a meaningful game.

In Sporting Kansas City’s first three matches this regular season, one side ended the game a man down.

“It hurts the game when any team is a man down. At the end of the day, it’s a players’ game, not a referees’ game,” Espinoza said. “When he gave me the red card, I saw the clock and said, dang, our team is going to sit for the next eight minutes without a player. It could (cost) us.

“But I understand. As long as they apply it to everybody in the league, I’m OK with it.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Sporting Kansas City players take notice of high rate of ejections."