It was difficult to see a foul at all as referee Ricardo Salazar ejected Joaquín Velázquez in the 40th minute last night for an challenge on Galaxy midfielder Colin Clark.
It was the main talking point in a 1-1 draw at the Home Depot Center.
Under MLS rules, a pool reporter is allowed to submit a written question (and one follow-up, if necessary) to a referee. The response will arrive in writing from the referee under the league guidelines. (It’s a tool that media use more frequently these days, but still probably not enough.)
Salazar wrote:
Only, that’s not what happened.
Salazar clearly shows a yellow card, then shows a red card.
So … was the original foul a challenge that warranted ejection on its own? Or did Velazquez say or do something subsequently that got him sent off.
It appeared that the Chivas USA defender may have said something; if that was the case, why didn’t Salazar just explain it that way?
(Thanks, by the way, to LA Galaxy blogger Adam Serrano for Tweeted out a picture of Salazar’s hand-written note.)
Either way, Chivas USA manager José Luis Sánchez Solá was clearly unimpressed. And he’ll probably get a fine for suggesting favoritism – although the league has certainly been guilty of uneven application of guidelines against referee criticism. David Beckham regularly got away with it.
What Sanchez Sola said:A human being has to conduct himself with respect and has to know how to respect others. Our adversary was magnificent. They are by far the best team in the league and one of the best on this continent. I respect what they do, but they are New York’s team. They are the team of the New York office.
“While I told him at halftime to call a fair match, he laughed. He had a wide smile on his face, as if to say, ‘This idiot.’ ”