Sporting Kansas City appeals Ike Opara’s ejection

Sporting Kansas City filed an appeal Friday to overturn defender Ike Opara’s ejection from Wednesday’s loss in Colorado and his resulting one-match suspension.

Coach Peter Vermes said he hopes to receive a response before Sunday’s game.

Opara received a second yellow card in the 76th minute Wednesday, prompting his early dismissal and giving Colorado a man advantage for the remainder of the match. Opara was whistled for fouling Colorado midfielder Jermaine Jones. Colorado scored the only goal of the match two minutes later.

“The more that I watch it, I think it’s a foul on Jones,” Vermes said. “But the bottom line is, we still needed to defend the next play. There were still things we could’ve done (to prevent the goal).”

If the appeal is rejected, Opara will serve his suspension Sunday, when Sporting KC plays host to Orlando City SC.

The appeal will be heard by a three-member independent review panel, which is comprised of one member from U.S. Soccer, one from the Canadian Soccer Association and one from the Professional Referees Organization. Major League Soccer does not take part in the player review process.

Each team is allotted two unsuccessful appeals per season, though if the appeal is deemed “frivolous,” Sporting KC would lose its second appeal this season and both opportunities next season.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Sporting Kansas City appeals Ike Opara’s ejection."