A referee association is ripping MLS NEXT Pro’s discipline after a coach allegedly made unwanted physical contact with a female official and followed it with a sexist remark — and the league only handed down a two-game suspension. The Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) says the punishment doesn’t line up with U.S. Soccer’s own guidance for “forceful” contact with officials, raising fresh questions about how seriously pro and youth leagues treat ref abuse.
- Who’s speaking out: The Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), in a statement shared via a post on Reddit’s r/referees community.
- What’s alleged: PSRA says a coach grabbed a female official’s hand and wouldn’t let go, then made a sex-based comment implying soccer is “a man’s game.”
- League discipline: According to the PSRA statement as summarized in the Reddit post, MLS NEXT Pro issued a two-game suspension plus additional measures (not fully detailed in the Reddit post).
- Why PSRA says that’s a problem: The association points to U.S. Soccer policy language indicating stronger penalties may be warranted when an official is subjected to “forceful” physical contact.
- What we don’t have yet: The Reddit post does not provide the coach’s name, club, match date, or the league’s full written decision, and LocalSportsPage.com has not independently verified those details.
Brief context
If you’ve spent any time around youth soccer (or any youth sport), you already know the pipeline: what gets tolerated at the top eventually trickles down to the Sunday morning fields where someone’s dad is wearing cleats for no reason. Referee groups have been sounding the alarm for years about abuse driving officials out — and incidents involving physical contact are the line everyone agrees should be bright, thick, and heavily enforced.
PSRA’s criticism also lands in a moment when leagues are trying to recruit and retain officials while simultaneously selling “respect the ref” messaging. The disconnect, referees argue, is when discipline looks light on the rare-but-serious stuff: contact, threats, or discriminatory remarks.
For youth leagues and tournament directors, the takeaway is operational, not philosophical: your discipline matrix is only as credible as the consequences for hands-on behavior. If pro pathways can’t model that consistently, local assignors and boards are left holding the whistle-shaped bag.
Source: Reddit: r/referees