Managers are known to talk about referees. In Major League Soccer, though, the discussion around officiating has entered a new realm. The league’s regular referees are sitting at home amid a lockout that shows no sign of ending anytime soon. Games are being refereed by replacement officials drafted in from the lower levels of US soccer, Turkey, Poland, Jamaica and other leagues, and people are starting to notice.
CF Montréal head coach Laurent Courtois had a long list of complaints after watching his team lose 4-3 to the Chicago Fire. “Twenty-two added minutes, red card on the [Chicago] goalkeeper that isn’t given, their third goal came from a corner that shouldn’t have been, their first goal was offside,” he reeled off. “Something was taken away from my guys.”
