The MLS Disciplinary Committee handed out a series of fines on Friday, hitting both individual players and entire teams.
Both the Montreal Impact and Houston Dynamo felt the wrath for violating the league’s mass confrontation policy during their Aug. 24 game, a 5-0 Impact win. Montreal’s second offense of the season means the Impact and head coach Marco Schallibaum have been fined, while Houston, as of their first offense, are subject to fines for subsequent violations.
The Committee also issued fines to the following players:
- Toronto FC forward Robert Earnshaw for making contact with the face/head of D.C. United defender Daniel Woolard in the 90th minute of their Aug. 24 game, a 1-1 draw. (Policy applied is below)
- Columbus Crew forward Federico Higuain for failing to leave the field in a timely manner after receiving a red card in the Aug. 24 4-0 loss against Real Salt Lake.
- Philadelphia Union defender Sheanon Williams for making contact with the face/head of New England Revolution defender A.J. Soares in the 78th minute of New England’s 5-1 win on Aug. 25. (Policy applied is below)
MLS POLICY REGARDING HANDS TO THE FACE/HEAD OF AN OPPONENT:
- Individuals witnessed to have made contact with their own hands to the face/head of an opponent will be subject to a minimum of a fine. Should the severity of the contact be considered egregious, the Disciplinary Committee will have the discretion to add supplemental punishment including match suspension and/or increased fines.
- Repeat violations will result in an escalated penalty either in the form of additional games suspended and/or increased fine amounts as determined on a case by case basis by the Disciplinary Committee.
