Replacement referees: Why in my opinion they won't be able to handle MLS
This is not 2014 over again
Quite curiously many defenders of MLS and PRO’s positions with regards to the Collective Bargaining Agreement that the PSRA rejected are claiming having replacement referees is unlikely to impact MLS matches too dramatically.
They point to the two weeks in 2014 where replacement referees were placed in charge of MLS matches. They also have pointed to their highly subjective opinions about the standard of MLS officiating.
Personally, I believe the difficulties in 2024 will be FAR GREATER than they were in 2014. I’ll detail why below.
Mark Geiger officiating MLS match in 2012/By Ben Keller - Ben Keller, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20600897
MLS did not have VAR in 2014. VAR, for obvious reasons creates additional challenges for officials.
In 2014 MLS had 18 teams. Today we have 29 teams.
In 2014 officials called up from Puerto Rico were told they were “training.” Once they learned they were being used as strike breakers, they showed solidarity with the striking officials. This time no such illusions will be had. They will not get the same level of replacement officials.
The standard of MLS is much higher than it was in 2014. Is the standard of USL or NISA today higher than NASL or USL was in 2014? Maybe slightly, but I would argue the gap between the top MLS teams and top USL teams is greater today than they were between the top MLS teams and NASL teams in 2014. In other words, if an official has been officiating lower division soccer exclusively to this point, they are less prepared to move up without proper preparation than in 2014.
My understanding is that solidarity within PSRA is strong and to expect solidarity from some other officials within CONCACAF (like Puerto Rico, mentioned above) limiting the pool of potential replacement referees. So based on this, I am not even sure the above bullet point matters, because we likely will not see officials that generally do NWSL, USL, MLS NP or NISA matches taking MLS assignments. These officials that fall under bargaining unit 2 of PSRA had their CBA ratified last year by the members.
The simultaneous start times of matches imposed by Apple TV gives far less flexibility in terms of shuttling referees in and out - 90 trained and qualified officials will be needed on most nights MLS is playing.
MLS has more “personalities” in terms of players than ever before. It takes an official of certain stature and experience to manage these sorts of situations. I see matches get out of hand all the time in this country, matches where referees have a hard time managing aggressive personalities. I rarely, if ever see this in MLS.
Getting enough referees that pass fitness tests and are FIFA certified at this point is going to be nearly impossible.
The use of replacement referees, I am convinced will prove to be a horrible mistake optically for MLS and negatively influence the competition. This comes at a time when the league faced increased scrutiny abroad because of the Lionel Messi signing and at home because of their own recent behavior.
But since MLS is in a mode where they are acting increasingly entitled whether its threatening to blow up our century old domestic cup competition, shortchanging referees and players, and scaling down the talent with MLS Season Pass package, perhaps they don’t quite comprehend how badly this is likely to go.
The prevalence and power of social media is arguably greater now, compared to 2014 as well! So egregious calls or situations with replacement refs is going to be publicized and amplified, far beyond what was possible ten years ago.
Great report!
It seem that the term fiasco and MLS have been united too often lately.
As a major MLS supporter, these self inflicted errors are not what the league needs at a time where real growth is possible.