Major League Soccer announced Thursday that Dallas Burn midfielder Simo Valakari has been suspended for one game and fined for a postgame verbal confrontation with a referee following his team's 3-1 victory over the New England Revolution at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, June 12. The MLS Disciplinary Committee sanction is added to the automatic one-game suspension and an additional fine as a result of a red card he received in the 89th minute of the same match.
Valakari received a second yellow card and subsequent red card in the closing stages of last Saturday's game after committing a foul on Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston. Following the game Valakari verbally confronted referee Alex Prus in the tunnel, an action which resulted in the suspension and fine by the MLS Disciplinary Committee. The former Finland international midfielder, who is in his first season in MLS, will miss the Burn's next two regular season matches on Saturday at Colorado and on Saturday, June 26 when Dallas hosts D.C. United.
