The union representing soccer referees in Major League Soccer are criticizing comments made by Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini after his teamB次元官网网址檚 playoff elimination on the weekend.

The Professional Soccer Referees Association called SartiniB次元官网网址檚 post-match comments B次元官网网址渄isgustingB次元官网网址� and that it takes the rhetoric against officials to a B次元官网网址渄angerous new level.B次元官网网址�

The Whitecaps lost 1-0 to Los Angeles F.C. on Sunday courtesy of a penalty from league top scorer Denis Bouanga.

But VancouverB次元官网网址檚 players and coaching staff were upset with the decision to award the penalty as well as referee Tim FordB次元官网网址檚 collision with midfielder Alessandro Schopf in stoppage time, which prevented the Austrian from taking a shot and led to an apparent second goal for Bouanga.

Sartini was sent off for objecting to Ford initially awarding the goal B次元官网网址� it was later ruled offsideB次元官网网址� following the collision with the Whitecaps player, and he labelled the refereeB次元官网网址檚 performance B次元官网网址渄isgracefulB次元官网网址� in a press conference afterwards.

He also made a joke about being a suspect if Ford was found dead after the match, which appears to have sparked the pushback from the referees union.

B次元官网网址淚f they found him in False Creek then IB次元官网网址檓 going to be a suspect,B次元官网网址� Sartini said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not saying that I would do it, IB次元官网网址檓 saying IB次元官网网址檓 the first suspect, itB次元官网网址檚 different.B次元官网网址�

Sartini made it clear he was joking and did add that he got along with Ford personally, but was upset with his work refereeing the crucial playoff game.

The Italian first took over as the Whitecaps interim coach in 2021 and recently signed a new contract through to 2025.

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