FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan preferred to keep the focus on Saturday’s big matchup against the Columbus Crew, but there was no avoiding the topic of losing his MLS Defender of the Year for the remainder of the playoffs.
The league announced Wednesday night the MLS Disciplinary Committee has suspended Matt Miazga for three games, effective immediately, and issued an undisclosed fine for misconduct following the Nov. 4 playoff match at New York Red Bulls. Miazga had been under investigation for gaining unauthorized access to the officials’ locker room, as multiple sources described, to discuss the two yellow cards he received at the end of the match.
Miazga served a one-game yellow card accumulation suspension as a result, missing the 1-0 win over Philadelphia in the conference semifinals, but the three-game suspension issued Wednesday was in relation to what happened after the match.
Noonan expressed disappointment in the mistake Miazga made but also in the punishment and the way it was handled.
“We'll try to just answer that in one (question), so we can focus on what's the most important thing and that's our preparation for the game, but Matt made a mistake, and now he's paying the consequences,” Noonan said when asked his reaction to the suspension. “We've had good conversations just internally about moving forward and Matt's leadership and the importance of having him on the field.
“Having said that, I think the punishment is way over the top for the actions that transpired. You know, I think this is something that's unprecedented, and taking everything into account, I think this could have been a heavy fine and you try to keep your most important players on the field for key games. If you look at the NBA or the NFL, some of these other leagues, are they really taking off the top players in key moments because of things like this? I think probably that's not the case. Again, Matt made a mistake, and now we suffer from it.
“But I also would love to see just some transparency and accountability with the officials. I'm talking about it, at some point Matt's going to have the opportunity to talk about it. Let's have an official up here talking about what transpired so it's not just transcript. It's not just here's the report. I think, you know, we can move forward in a strong way if we have that as well. So it's disappointing, but I'll try to leave it at that so we can focus on the game.”
PSRA supplied to Queen City Press copies of the match officials’ report and an eye witness testimony from a reporter who was in the hallway at the time of the incident, waiting on an interview with FCC forward Brandon Vazquez.
There were inconsistencies in some of the details, but accounts from PSRA, the match report and the eye witness indicated Miazga had gone into the officials’ locker room and there was shouting involved. The discrepancies lied in details such as the officials describing Miazga holding a pizza box and to-go bag of food and the reporter detailing a tray with a half-eaten burger. The officials’ account also detailed a security guard removing Miazga, whereas the eye witness said the security guard did not enter until after Miazga was removed by an FC Cincinnati staff member.
Sources with FC Cincinnati also took issue with PSRA’s statement indicating Miazga was “forcibly removed” by stadium security.
Noonan had said last week that “you’ve got to have more composure (about) going into an officiating space,” but painted a softer picture of Miazga entering 90 minutes after the game with a pizza box in hand, rather than storming in right after the game.
Shortly after Noonan’s press conference Thursday, which was intended to preview Saturday’s match, the MLS Players Association issued its own statement, condemning the action of PSRA and certain members with regard to the Nov. 4 incident.
The following is MLSPA’s statement:
“The MLS Players Association condemns the behavior of the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) and certain PSRA members with regard to the Nov. 4 incident at Red Bull Arena involving FC Cincinnati player Matt Miazga.
"To respect the integrity of the disciplinary process, the MLSPA refrained from public comment until the process was complete. The PSRA, on the other hand, created and repeatedly reinforced a false public narrative that appears to have directly influenced that process. Video footage made available and reviewed during the disciplinary process confirms that statements made by the referees and the PSRA were false. Unfortunately, that evidence does not appear to have been appropriately factored into MLS' decision.
“In the meantime, no discipline has been announced for the referees for submitting a match report with multiple false statements and no discipline has been announced to address the stadium security breakdown that allowed the incident to occur in the first place. Further, MLS has not publicly condemned the PSRA for their irresponsible actions and false statements.
"Players in MLS are held publicly accountable for their actions. It is high time that the same standard be applied to officials. Refereeing is a difficult job. Mistake on the field happen and the game moves on. Matters of integrity, however, are rightfully taken more seriously. The behavior of the referees and the PSRA in this case did not demonstrate a level of integrity commensurate with a league of MLS's stature.”
MLSPA has not commented on the punishment itself or offered specifics about what statements were false.
Queen City Press had reached out to an MLSPA spokesperson seeking comment when the suspension was announced, but did not receive a response.
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