Major League Soccer’s disciplinary committee extended Columbus Crew coach Wilfried Nancy’s suspension to a second game and fined him an undisclosed amount on Tuesday.
Nancy was disciplined for what MLS called irresponsible behavior in Saturday’s match against New York City FC.
A member of Nancy’s staff, fitness coach Federico Pizzuto, was also suspended for two additional matches for “violent conduct — throwing liquid at and on a match official,” the league said.
Nancy was ejected from Saturday’s 1-1 draw against visiting NYCFC for entering the pitch to confront a referee about a missed foul call. Pizzuto was also angered by the refereeing and squirted a water bottle toward the sideline in frustration.
Because each coach was shown a red card, they were already going to be ineligible for this Saturday’s visit to the Portland Timbers. The suspension does not include MLS teams’ participation in the Leagues Cup against Liga MX clubs, so the second game of Nancy’s suspension will be the Aug. 20 home match against FC Cincinnati. Pizzuto will miss that one as well as Aug. 26 against visiting Toronto FC.
The Crew have not commented on the discipline, and it’s unclear who will coach the team in the interim.
–Field Level Media
