Montreal Impact Altercation Video
IMS has been supplied a video of part of the altercation that took place on October 17th, 2010 in the second leg of the Montreal Impact v Carolina RailHawks USSF D2 Pro League semifinal game. As explained in an earlier post, the incident took place in Cary, NC at WakeMed Park.
While you cannot see everything that took place it’s clear the Impact charged the referees on the field and backed them into a corner. You can also see RailHawks personal and police immediately step between the officials and Impact technical director Nick DeSantis and offending players, which included Montreal’s Hicham Aaboubou, Adam Braz and Richard Pelletier.
I am actually impressed with the restraint that the Cary police department had in shielding the referees from the Impact players and staff.
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That ref is a joke, what an amateur. Worst call ever!
What does that have to do with the behavior of the players in this video?
Adam Braz should be required to undergo a psych evaluation before he steps back onto a soccer pitch.
As should Nick DeSantis. The players mimic their leader’s behaviour.
The Impact has benefitted more than once from questionable calls. They should have the decency to accept the good with the bad.
Good call or ball call. Tell the ref he made a bad call and leave it at that. Physical violence and threats of bodily harm against officials has no place on the pitch or off the pitch. Quite frankly, I think the players got off cheap. To me some of the fines were pretty small in my humble opinion.
I recognize four RailHawks people (including Jim Houghton) and at least two Cary cops protecting the officials. There’s also at least one more person whose face we see who I don’t recognize – the fellow with the dark hair (shorter than DeSantis’) in a black suit – who doesn’t do a lot but appears to be trying to hold people back away from the refs. Maybe I’m just not recognizing him in a lo-res video, but I assume he’s actually not a Carolina person and thus presumably works for the Impact.
I mention this to give credit where it’s due – It’s a little unclear, but whoever that is it appears he’s trying to keep things from getting worse despite being on the same “side” as the aggressors. And that’s worth some props.
Totally uncalled for reaction by those involved from the Impact. I’m as critical of poor officiating(in every sport) as there is, but behavior like this is unacceptable. Glad to see the USSF stepping in with fines and suspensions for these guys.
@teucer: the man you’re referring to is Impact Head Coach Marc Dos Santos.
I wonder if the “We hate Montreal” chant will move on to Carolina, now?
@FranckieStone: Thanks for the ID. I’d heard Dos Santos had handled himself well, but I couldn’t recognize him from the video. So yeah, good on him.
@Jim Bob: Between this incident and the time one of their players spat on Etienne Barbara after a match… probably.
@Jim Bob: As a Carolina fan, I can assure you we won’t be chanting anytime soon. We’re just not that sophisticated.
It will be interesting to see how Montreal handles their business when they “graduate” to MLS.