The MLS Disciplinary Committee handed out two fines on Wednesday, one to an incensed head coach and the other to a team whose bench showed "improper conduct."
D.C. United boss Ben Olsen was the target of the first, fined an undisclosed amount for his postgame outburst after his side's 1-1 draw on Aug. 19. A series of calls late in the game by referee Mark Geiger — including encroachment on a penalty that Dwayne De Rosario converted the first time, then missed on the retake — drew Olsen's ire.
“It’s the Geiger show,” Olsen said immediately afterward. “He wants to make the big call to change a game. It’s what they do. Coming back from the Olympics, it was his show tonight. His show. Not about the players. That’s what happens when referees don’t have control of the game and don’t have a good pulse of what’s going on out there.”
FC Dallas, meanwhile, were fined an undisclosed amount for their bench's conduct late in a 2-1 win at Real Salt Lake on Aug. 18. Midfielder David Ferreira provided the stoppage-time winner in that one, and head coach Schellas Hyndman later called for "more protection" for his star playmaker.
Fines collected will be donated to the charitable partners of MLS W.O.R.K.S. and the MLS Players Union.
