Columbus Crew Official Stops Short of Claiming Bias

Thursday, April 30, 2009

“A Significant Suspension of the Referee would be Fair”

April 30

<strong>Marrufo is Unlikely to Referee Sounders this Weekend!</strong><br>Point Taken Photos

Marrufo is Unlikely to Referee Sounders this Weekend!
Point Taken Photos

A Columbus Crew official today gave a very measured response to the incidents during and after the controversial MLS match between Columbus Crew and Sounders’ next opponents Chicago Fire.

Brian Bliss, Technical Director of the Columbus Crew, does not accuse Mexican international Cuauhtemoc Blanco of successfully influencing referee Jair Marrufo’s decision-making process in the 2-2 draw, but does feel that the appearance of the communication between them sends out the wrong signals.

He told Prost Amerika Soccer, “I don’t believe this is the club’s position (that Blanco succeeded in influencing the referee’s impartiality) or that there was intent from Blanco or Marrufo, but there will always be some doubt. We are all human and can always be subconsciously affected whether there was intent or not. In order to make sure the correct message is sent, we feel a significant suspension of the referee would be fair.”

Jair Marrufo is one of US Soccer’s top referees and was chosen to officiate the MLS opener between Sounders FC and New York Red Bulls. Several witnesses reported abnormal communication between him and Blanco during the Fire’s game with Columbus last weekend.

Marrufo is now the subject of an official complaint which the United States Soccer Federation are investigating.

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Referee Jair Marrufo Gets a One-Game “Chance to Clear His Head” (Which is NOT a Suspension!) after Blanco Shirt Incident - - The Offside - Major League Soccer Blog

04/30/2009 at 10:01 am

[...] Right after I hit “publish” on this post, I got a link to this interview with the Crew’s Technical Director, Brian Bliss, from Prost Amerika. His opinion? He told [...]

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