Once again, Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis has been fined and suspended for speaking truth to power. The referees in Major League Soccer are terrible, but every time a coach points this out, the referee is protected and the coach fined and/or suspended.
Here are Kreis' offending remarks that came after a 0-0 draw with Houston. He prepared the media for his tirade by soliciting funds for the fines he knew were to come:
"I'm tired of it, I'm exasperated — This is absolutely ridiculous, every single week we play here I feel like we're playing away. Every 50-50 call goes against us. My man (Nat Borchers) gets pushed down in the box, the defender has his arms up in front of him showing everybody he's clearly pushed my man down in the box and we don't even get a thought of a penalty kick. Where's the linesman then to help the referee? He was certainly there a few weeks ago to call a non-offsides against us."
Sure, this was Kreis second offense this season, but do the comments above really warrant a $2,000 fine and a two-game suspension?
I know the status quo in all pro sports is to protect the referee first and fine all negative comments made by coaches or owners immediately. After the fact, pro leagues handle referee review in various different ways. MLS outlines their referee policy on its web site.
I think everyone understands that being a referee in MLS is a tough job, and they certainly don't get paid adequately for all the abuse that is heaped on them by coaches, fans and players. By most accounts MLS referees make under 30 grand a year. But that terrible fudciary fact aside, why should a coach be fined for honest criticism of a referee's job performance? It seems to me that it is his inalienable right to point out that replays clearly showed his player onside when the goal was waved off. If it's the truth, why can't he say it?
I guess that begs the question, what if it isn't honest? What if the coach is criticizing the referee for a call that he actually made correctly? Well, I think I have a solution for either eventuality.
MLS should follow the rule of law, specifically libel law, when it comes to cases of referee criticism. Put rather simply, in slander and libel cases, if the offender can prove that his statements were true to his knowledge, then he cannot be found guilty of libel. Tweaking it a bit to serve our purposes here, if a coach's criticism is proven correct by video replays of the match in question, than said coach cannot be fined. And if the call or calls resulted directly in a team's forfeiture of a goal or win than a referee will receive a demerit or demerits according to how egregious the error.
Conversely, if a coach is proven incorrrect by video evidence, or if it is inconclusive, said coach would receive the fine. Therefore, a coach would be less likely to challenge, if every time he was incorrect (or if it might prove inconclusive) he was fined. Also to avoid a litany of criticism for every little action performed by the referee (i.e. "He said there was a minute of stoppage time, but he used 63 seconds"), a coach can only criticize plays directly involving a goal (or disallowed goal), caution or ejection. Furthermore, comments must be respectful and involve only the play in question (no obscenity-laden tirades or character-assassinations, please).
This would also help MLS with its review of officials, hopefully ferreting out those terrible referees that keep getting work in the league, while keeping coaches from laying into officials who are simply doing their jobs.
Plus, MLS would still have the final say on whether that hand ball in the box really should be counted as a demerit or whether it was just an honest mistake by a well-meaning referee. At least with this system, however, you are not protecting the referees at the cost the game. And finally, coaches can be free to speak the truth.
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