The Vancouver Whitecaps’ season was decided on Sunday with a rather bizarre sequence that saw referee Tim Ford come into contact with a player from the local favorite, prompting a flurry of reactions.
After the Canadian team lost 1-0 to Los Angeles FC, few people were happy at BC Place. The Whitecaps were eliminated from the Major League Soccer (MLS) postseason tournament.
In second-half stoppage time, Vancouver appeared to have an excellent chance to tie the game, but the referee interfered. Winger Alessandro Schöpf was about to win the ball back when he was thrown to the ground by the referee and got into his blind spot. LAFC ended up going the entire field and scoring in a gaping cage as goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka had also been sent in front of the opposition net.
Infuriated, head coach Vanni Sartini was sent off the pitch and the goal was eventually disallowed for offside. Still, LAFC held on to win.
“The Canucks players were there to watch our game, so they may be in a better position to judge it [cette mise en échec] on Schöpf. [L’arbitre] Maybe he was excited because he was in Canada and wanted to do something [de Canadien]», the Italian started with a half smile at a press conference.
“We had the ball, the referee was in an unlikely position and he fouled Schöpf,” he repeated. […] I don’t understand why he didn’t stop the game. Any time a team loses the ball because of a referee, he must blow his whistle and give the ball back.
The last straw?
According to The Province journalist JJ Adams, Sartini made a rather somber statement before addressing journalists. The trainer reportedly asked if the cameras were activated before mentioning that if Tim Ford was found swimming in False Creek Bay that evening, the police might suspect him because they were so angry with him.
Of course, Sartini wouldn’t have gone so far as to commit murder, but his comment did not go unnoticed and he could be sanctioned by the MLS.
“The refereeing was catastrophic,” he said more calmly. Anyone can have bad performances, but this was probably his worst season. I like him as a referee, but today…”
Additionally, goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau was booed by all of his former Whitecaps fans during this encounter. The Quebec native signed the shutout with five saves. Denis Bouanga was the only goalscorer of the game, opening the scoring from a penalty in the 24th minute.