Montreal Impact Hit with Heavy Fines and Suspensions by U.S. Soccer
Edited 11/8/10 to correct fine to Adam Braz to $300.00. The original figure IMS published of $1.500.00 was a typo by U.S. Soccer.
On October 17th, 2010, the Montreal Impact played the Carolina RailHawks at WakeMed Park in Cary, NC. for the second leg of the USSF D2 Pro League semifinals. The Impact had defeated the RailHawks 1-0 at Stade Saputo in the first leg of the home and away total goal series.
In Carolina’s return leg, the RailHawks’ Daniel Paladini scored in the 72nd minute. The goal tied the total aggregate series.
In the 89th minute Tom Heinemann scored for the RailHawks. The goal put the RailHawks up 2-0 in the game and 2-1 aggregate. But the goal set off protests from Montreal that felt the Charleston Battery-loaned player was offside when he scored. The referee Jose Carlos Rivero allowed the goal to stand.
In the 1st minute of stoppage time the Impact scored but the goal was disallowed as the linesman raised his flag for offsides. This set off another series of protests from Montreal.
The game ended with the RailHawks winning the game 2-0 and 2-1 aggregate.
Immediately after the whistle had blown the Impact players and Technical Director Nick DeSantis charged the referees and challenged them. The four referees were not able to exit by the usual tunnel under the stands and between the two benches but were forced by the Montreal players and DeSantis to the far corner of the stadium. Former RailHawks COO Jim Houghton and his staff intervened to try to protect referee Rivero, assistant referees Shaun Papperman and Clive Edwards and fourth official Kai Goodrich. Eventually Cary police escorted the referee staff from the stands around the outside of the stadium and to their locker rooms.
Because of the behavior of the Montreal Impact, an investigation of the incident was commenced by US Soccer. That investigation included interviews with all the individuals involved in the altercation.
Impact Technical Director and former coach Nick DeSantis received the heaviest of the fines and suspensions.
According to U.S. Soccer spokesperson Neil Buethe, the following suspensions and fines have been levied against individuals involved from the Impact as well as the Montreal Impact organization themselves.
Nick DeSantis (Technical Director) will be suspended for the next six (6) consecutive professional league matches and fined $1,500 for his actions, which instigated the incident at the conclusion of the match.
Hicham Aaboubou (player #2) will be suspended for the next four (4) consecutive professional league matches and fined $200.
Adam Braz (player #3) will be suspended for the next three (3) consecutive professional league matches and fined $300.
Richard Pelletier (player #6) will be suspended for the next six (6) consecutive professional league matches and fined $500.
Furthermore, the Montreal Impact will be fined $5,000 for failure to control its players and Technical Director.
Video of the incident can be found here.
Comments are closed.
I was there. It was one of the most amazing displays of lack of discipline I’ve witnessed on the field. For a moment, I thought Braz was going to punch Jim Houghton in the tunnel to the locker rooms after the brouhaha with the officials.
Honestly, I was astounded Adam Braz wasn’t mentioned until the end of the article. And that he didn’t punch the official.
Did the Railhawks do a good job protecting the officials or were they not as on the ball as they could have been? Security for officials is a big deal.
Braz is a head case. These have to be some of the heaviest and longest fines that I can remember in D2.
Yeah, they’re pretty severe. And I can’t imagine anyone saying they were unwarranted, at least not anybody who was there.
I was there. The Impact players and staff literally chased the refs all the way to the corner of the pitch. Cary police finally intervened, which led to this photo taken by my friend Rob: http://bit.ly/c7B5go
And all of us in section 204 shouted “Wankers!” at them. Repeatedly. Because they were.
@ Dave’s football blog:
All of you guys are REALLY cool..No but I mean REALLY.
This was Saputo’s way of saying….. HELLO MLS……..
This group may have money, but they have absolutely no class whatsoever.
Wow. I am waiting for Kartik the propogandist to either completely ignore this or give it some sort of sugary, sweet positive spin like:
“USSF recognizes the passion and intensity that key NASL franchise brings to the division”…
Oh that’s right: Dude is probably too busy trying to spin the “NASL building on it’s strong foundation” after the AGM this past weekend…
IMS friend David Fellerath has a nice follow up to this article at Indy Week.com. He has some video of the goals counted and not, as well as a Braz confrontation on the field.
He also talks about a confrontation in the parking lot after the incident that I didn’t included in my story because I could not get confirmation but had heard 2nd hand stories that again involved Braz and this time Railhawk supporters.
http://is.gd/gRNLa
A Dave’s Football Blog: that’s cuz you’re all a bunch of tools and are too dumb to admit the Impact got screwed over, so suck it long and hard, what an unprofessional league this is that I can’t wait to GTFO of, one more year of non-sense and it’s all over, see whichever team in the finals which we’ll take back as usual.
ALLEZ L’IMPACT!!!
What’s new? The Impact blame someone other than themselves every time their season ends with out a trophy. This time it was the referees fault.
Brian, how come no information on the NASL AGM? Did it happen? Were there any league announcements? You are usually on top of these things!
I don’t think it takes a physics major to point out that both of those goals did, in fact, look decisively offside in those videos.
What I find most confusing are the punishments: 6 games and $1500, 4 games and $200, 3 and $1500, 6 and $500. Can anyone explain the lack of progression? How can someone do something so grievous it nets a 6 game suspension yet only levies a $500 fine while another gets away with half the suspension but triple the hit in the wallet?
If fines were based on player contract income or something then I get it, but taken out of context this makes no sense…
The second incident, in the parking lot, apparently resulted from some of the JailHawks (the newer, drunker, and less couth of the team’s supporters’ groups) heckling Montreal players and generally being sore winners – which Montreal, fresh from the ugliness in the tunnel, escalated. I wasn’t a witness to it, but I’ve talked to people who were and it doesn’t sound like either group behaved appropriately. Not entirely the Impact’s fault, whereas the crap they pulled in the stadium undeniably was; I think USSF’s decision to ding them for the latter only is exactly correct.
Also, Joe, I love how your definition of an “unprofessional league” that “screwed (your team) over” is one whose governing federation doesn’t want you assaulting referees. I’m not keen on hooligans, and especially not when they’re the ones playing the game.
Crazy, it’s not like French Canadians to be stunningly rude, ill-mannered and completely lacking in class.
Oh, wait, it totally is!
@Ninj: Your comment is completely out of nowhere. I don’t know what categorizing a whole population as you did brings to the discussion.
Red card
@Fouge – neither video provide the angle required or a complete visual scope of the play for we non-physics majors to draw the same conclusion you have arrived at.
Agreed and the same for Joe. Let’s leave the name calling for some other forum and stick to talking about the issues at hand.
After seeing the Impact play in Austin, I am somehow not surprised..
Rob, not sure if you saw I have made a correction to Braz’s fine. I received some incorrect information and his fine was actually $300.00 and not $1,500.00
@teucer: Just to clarify, the Jailhawks are a new supporters group that emerged late this season, and they are separate from Triangle Soccer Fanatics, the crowd I sit with in section 204. Several Jailhawks members are friends of the Wellmans, the club owners. (I would explain why I think the Jailhawks suddenly emerged this season, but really, it’s not worth going into, and TSF has no beef with anyone here. We all support the same club, after all.) As for the incident, I only heard eyewitness reports that a few Jailhawks talked trash at the Impact players as they got on the bus, and some players came off the bus looking to retaliate. Cooler heads prevailed, though, and at least one Railhawks official profusely apologized for the fans’ behavior.
@joe: Classy. Say hi to everyone at BigSoccer for me.
Dave: Yeah, I know – I’ve never seen anything I object to out of TSF. (I’m not gonna say it’s never happened, but if it has I’m not aware of it.) The JailHawks were not gracious in victory, and the Impact players reacted badly, and what I’ve heard is that it very nearly turned into as much of an episode as the one slightly earlier. (I was still inside the gates at that point, and heard a fair amount of noise but didn’t actually see the confrontation happen.)
I’m glad for the JailHawks’ enthusiasm, and I’m glad to have yet another loud section to help create a proper soccer-stadium atmosphere, but in that particular instance I think their behavior was inappropriate. But the ugliness began with Montreal’s intolerable behavior on the field, not with the JailHawks. I understand why the Impact players were upset (hell, even as a Carolina man I’m inclined to believe the game probably should’ve gone to extra time, though we’ll never know for sure), but two wrongs don’t make a right and I’m not keen on handled themselves. And it’s clear USSF agrees, judging by the penalties they handed down.
(My take on the videos, by the way: By the time Heinemann receives the ball, he’s undoubtedly offsides – but neither he nor the line is in the frame when it is kicked, so there’s a chance the decision to allow the goal was the correct one. And while neither video is of the greatest quality and I can’t tell for certain, I personally believe that both the final goal by Terminisi and the disallowed Carolina goal in the first leg of the series were incredibly close but correctly called. But ultimately I take a somewhat fatalistic perspective on officials in this sport or any other; Carolina beat Montreal by two, America drew against Slovenia, and there’s nothing to be gained by playing “what if.”)
This pathetic fine doesn’t even cover the time and trouble that US Soccer and those who were involved and interviewed repeatedly spent. These representatives of Montreal Impact who choose to behave in a childish and spoiled sport mannerr gave Montreal and soccer a black eye. They should be fined accordingly.
@beth W the Railhawk did the same thing in Montréal earlier in the season! at the end of the game, jumping on the field ….
I was at the game. In fact i was on the field TRYING TO PROTECT THE OFFICIALS. i have seen upset players and coaches before, but never have I seen a display of total lack of control. My hat is off to the coach for trying his best to help bring control to to this mess. As far as Montreal’s behavior, I was trying to do my job and i was threatened and cursed at. Win. lose or draw it is only a freaking game.
Adam Braz should have been banned for good from any soccer field .. his demeanor on and frankly off the field is just not becoming of an athlete ANY athlete. There’s always been something between these two teams since day 1 and the bench clearing brawl in Sherbrooke in ’07.. more recently the RH had an issue and were fined but it never got as much out of hand as the latest incident… frankly Rennie, Ritche and Wellman got a much worse fine for less antics… I like Nick .. he’s a standup guy but he has a very short fuse … Braz as I said should not be allowed on a field ever again.. Sylvain and Joe.? you’re jest sore losers… Teucer and Den .. I miss you guys.. and lastly Yankiboy .. you are always right and it was nice to see you in the lobby after the final
Brian, if you want another good look at the replay of these events, contact News14 in Raleigh, NC. They have great footage (and showed this on their sports program) of the post game rant including the players pushing the ref’s all the way back to the other side of the field. Not sure if they will release the footage but it is good footage to see.
OK, so they’ve suspended these players, but is that only for Div-II? What if there is no Div-II soccer next year, with the NASL bid looking less than shaky? Would that apply to any US league they may play in?
I think that is yet to be figured out.
I remember Montreal from the old A-League days; they were that way then, too (DiSantis, and John (?) Limniatis were the worst). I guess “Impact” is French for “whiny cry-babies.”
I think that everyone here will agree on one think that the behavior and the fines were uncalled for. While it is a shame that the judgment call of one human (correct or not) can cause such an out lashing is embarrassing. As I stated earlier, I was on the field trying to help the officials after the game. I was also in the parking lot when the last skirmish happened. It is true that the JailHawks were out of line. The game is over and what happened in the parking lot should have never happened. As I did that night, I again apologize for their behavior. North Carolina is my home and most of us do display Southern Hospitality.
I was at the game… very close to the end the referees left by.
Some points…
1. Local police/security had no idea they should have come on field and game end to escort referees off the pitch, normal practice in Brasil is to have Forca Tactica troops with helmuts and plastic shields escort officials at half time and end of match time. So amateur stadia control … par for the course in USL stadia… see Marina stadium in Rochester.
2. Staff from the club … was confused and not used to crowd control as the incident unravelled the referee was asking for a fan to be arrested for shouting at him… laughable since the fans comments were fair comment under the US constitution and were not lewd or using swear words.
3. Since no real contact with referees occured… no punch etc. the fines are minimal and the suspensions are only tenable if the same league operates next year…. so a bit of dollars not big issue.
And yes the State Fair was great … Carolina was a fun place for the game…. would go back next year…. loved the cheap import beer from Czech in the stands.
Ah the memories. I think DeSantis was a player for the Impact in 2001 (?), when the players chased the officials into the locker room (i.e. space under the bleachers) at halftime of a game against the Riverhounds. The parents in the stands holding their kids’ ears while screaming at the players to stop swearing.
Probably not the best way to get sympathy while wearing “SOS” (Save Our Soccer) signs taped to the front of their jerseys.
Carolina and the referees stole the game. No surprise from the United States Stupidity Federation!