Clint Dempsey Faces Long Suspension After Ripping Up Referee’s Notebook
Clint Dempsey, along with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, has been one of the faces of U.S. men’s soccer for the past decade or so now. Currently, Clint serves as captain of the National team, but he’s making headlines at the moment for tearing up the referee’s notebook when his Seattle Sounders took on the Portland Timbers in a Major League Soccer matchup.
You’ll notice Dempsey on the left behind the player in the No. 5 shirt, per SounderAtHeart.
Three members of the Sounders squad had already been booked on red cards, leaving the Seattle team to play with only seven bodies on the field. Portland won 3-1.
According to Oregon Live, the game became so ugly that Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid had this to say.
“I didn’t want to get thrown out so I just walked away from the bench. I was maybe going to choke a referee so I figured I’d walk away before I did something stupid.”
The refs had to be escorted off the pitch by policemen following the game.
Police are literally escorting the refs off the field. Don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. pic.twitter.com/qVxYyZmTaU
— Jackie Montgomery (@MissJMontgomery) June 17, 2015
As far as suspensions go, Sam Borden, a European sports correspondent for the New York Times, believes it could be lengthy.
Just watched video of Clint Dempsey ejection in last night’s game; by definition, that’s referee assault, which carries a min. 3 month ban.
— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) June 17, 2015
Why is ripping a referee’s card assault? From @ussoccer‘s own laws, assault inc. “damaging the referee’s uniform or personal property”
— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) June 17, 2015
.@ussoccer has an out: in laws, it says this policy doesn’t apply to “Professional League member activities.” So maybe they let him skate.
— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) June 17, 2015
But I think USSF definition of referee assault (and punishment) is clear. Will they hold a star to same standard they would an amateur?
— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) June 17, 2015
Clint has played in three World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014) and holds the record for fastest scored goal by an American player when he put one in the back of the net in the 2014 World Cup against Ghana just 29 seconds into the match. That goal was also the fifth fastest in the long, illustrious history of World Cup competition.
Here’s that goal.
It remains to be seen what Dempsey’s punishment will be, but more than likely it will affect his playing time both at the club and national level. According to Yahoo, Clint could miss the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Check out Clint modeling Team USA’s new jerseys with women’s national star Alex Morgan, as previously reported by Inquisitr.
What do you make of Dempsey’s actions? Should he be suspended indefinitely?
(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
