Caleb Porter fined, suspended for labeling MLS officiating a ‘clown show,’ calling referee a ‘coward’

Porter will miss the Revolution's upcoming game against Orlando City SC.

The Revolution face a critical test against Orlando City SC amid a possible playoff push on Saturday, but will have to manage a result without head coach Caleb Porter.

Porter, who is working his way through an up-and-down first season with New England, was suspended on Tuesday by Major League Soccer for making comments that were “in violation of the league’s public criticism policy” following the 2-2 draw against St. Louis City SC on Sept. 7. He was also fined $20,000 according to a league statement.

In his postgame press conference following the game, Porter called referee Tim Ford a “coward” multiple times, adding that the game’s officiating had been a “clown show.”

The controversy stemmed from two incidents during the game. One was a “video assistant referee” (VAR) decision by Ford to not award New England a penalty late in the second half following a hand ball by St. Louis defender Kyle Hiebert in the box. After review, Ford judged that “it was the opinion of the referee that the ball took an unexpected deflection into the St. Louis players arm which was in a justifiable position for his action.”

Porter was furious with the decision, bluntly expressing his thoughts after the game.

“We are very disappointed with the officiating,” Porter said in his opening remarks after the final whistle. “It’s 100 percent a penalty kick. One hundred percent. I don’t know how you look honestly at the screen and decide not to give a penalty.”

The draw at home against St. Louis — a team that currently resides far down the Western Conference standings — was a setback for New England’s efforts to close the current five-point gap with the Eastern Conference playoff line.

“It is a complete joke. It’s a travesty, and there needs to be some accountability for that decision, because we lost two points because of that decision,” Porter said of the officiating. “We have literally had that same thing happen to us three different times where the official has been sent to the monitor, and there is a clear penalty, and the official doesn’t call it. What is happening? It is mind-boggling.

“I have never seen anything like it,” Porter continued. “The referee was a complete coward in that moment. Complete coward, and it’s a travesty. He shouldn’t officiate. He cost our players two points today, two really important points, and I’m not going to stand for it.”

The second incident Porter pointed to involved New England’s recently-made record signing, Argentine winger Luca Langoni. After scoring a quality goal in the first half, Langoni was withdrawn for Nacho Gil in a 74th minute substitute.

But due to a newly imposed MLS rule, Langoni had to exit the field within 10 seconds. Whether Langoni — who is new to the league — knew about the rule or not, he made his way off the pitch in 14 seconds (per Porter). This meant New England violated the “timed substitution rule,” and Gil was kept off the field for another 60 seconds (having to also wait for another substitution window at a stoppage of play).

In the ensuing period in which the Revolution were down to 10 players, St. Louis scored an equalizer to tie the score at 2-2. It elicited still more quotes from Porter that were extremely critical of Ford.

“Then, the second part of the joke show, clown show, was giving us a [timed substitution] penalty for not getting out of the game,” Porter complained following the game. “Luca was coming out of the game because he was injured.

“He couldn’t sprint any faster to get out of the game,” Porter added. “Initially, he walked, yes, but then he sprinted out of the game as fast as he could. The referee told me that it was 14 seconds. Fourteen seconds it took him to get out of the game. So, because he is four seconds late because he can’t sprint any faster, they penalize us and we end up giving away a goal during that penalty. The game isn’t meant to be played this way. It’s an absolute joke. You’re supposed to, as an official, use your discretion in those moments. He did not use his discretion in either of those moments.”

Given the intensity of his comments, Porter acknowledged on Saturday that he fully expected repercussions from the league.

“I don’t care if I get fined, I don’t care what [MLS commissioner] Don Garber says. What Don Garber needs to do is look at that situation, look at the official in that situation, and needs to hold this official accountable.”

Now, however, his team will face an important matchup on the road without its head coach. On Tuesday, Porter again lamented the fact that New England is the only team in MLS not be awarded a penalty kick in 2024.

“We put the last match behind us,” he said. “In some ways think our guys will have even more of a chip on their shoulder, kind of an ‘us versus everybody’ mentality. It is clear we are not going to get any help, so we need to make our own luck and we need to control the controllables.”

The Revolution have eight games remaining (with two games in hand) to close the current eight-point gap with DC United (currently occupying the final playoff spot). Kickoff on Saturday in Orlando is slated for a little after 7:30 p.m.