Pat Noonan, MLSPA speak out against sanctions for FC Cincinnati's Matt Miazga

It's an uncommon thing to see labor unions cross one another within a professional sports league in North America, but the controversy surrounding FC Cincinnati's Matt Miazga has come to that point.

Sanctions against Miazga stemming from a Nov. 4 playoff match were announced Wednesday night by Major League Soccer following the league's investigation into allegations put forth by the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), the referees' union. But the Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA), the players' union, responded Thursday with a condemnation of PSRA, as well as allegations against PSRA's handling of the case.

MLSPA alleged officials for the Nov. 4 match at Red Bull Arena lied in their post-match report, as well as that a lapse in security at the venue allowed the incident in question to take place.

MLS on Wednesday announced Miazga was suspended for three matches and fined an undisclosed amount for entering the referees' locker room after an MLS Cup playoff match against New York Red Bulls in which the player received two yellow cards that triggered a one-match suspension for yellow-card accumulation.

"The MLS Players Association condemns the behavior of the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) and certain PSRA members with regard to the Nov. 4 incident at Red Bull Arena involving FC Cincinnati player Matt Miazga.

"To respect the integrity of the disciplinary process, the MLSPA refrained from public comment until the process was complete. The PSRA, on the other hand, created and repeatedly reinforced a false public narrative that appears to have directly influenced that process. Video footage made available and reviewed during the disciplinary process confirms that statements made by the referees and the PSRA were false. Unfortunately, that evidence does not appear to have been appropriately factored into MLS' decision.

"In the meantime, no discipline has been announced for the referees for submitting a match report with multiple false statements and no discipline has been announced to address the stadium security breakdown that allowed the incident to occur in the first place. Further, MLS has not publicly condemned the PSRA for their irresponsible actions and false statements.

"Players in MLS are held publicly accountable for their actions. It is high time that the same standard be applied to officials. Refereeing is a difficult job. Mistake on the field happen and the game moves on. Matters of integrity, however, are rightfully taken more moe seriously. The behavior of the referees and the PSRA in this case did not demonstrate a level of integrity commensurate with a league of MLS's stature."

The PSRA has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Enquirer.

Pat Noonan responds to the Miazga sanctions

FC Cincinnati seems ready to move forward from the sanctions assessed to Miazga, mostly because they have to with an MLS Cup Eastern Conference final approaching on Saturday.

But before the club appeared to close the book publicly on the Miazga matter ahead of the Columbus match, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan had his say Thursday on the discipline handed down to Miazga.

Speaking to assembled media during his pre-match news conference Thursday at the Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Noonan attempted to address the Miazga situation with one statement. It started with the latest in a string of acknowledgements from club officials that Miazga erred in the post-match incident Nov. 4 that resulted in a three-match suspension and fine.

Noonan then went on to suggest the punishment was too heavy-handed, as well as unprecedented.

"Matt made a mistake and now we're − he's paying the consequences. We've had good conversations internally just about moving forward from this and Matt's leadership and the importance of having him on the field," Noonan said. "Having said that, I think the punishment is way over the top for the actions that transpired. You know, I think this is something that's unprecedented. Taking everything into account, I think this could have been a heavy fine and you try to keep your most important players on the field for key games.

"If you look at the NBA or the NFL, some of these other leagues. Are you really taking off your top players in key moments because of things like this? I think you probably don't and that's not the case here but, again, Matt made a mistake and we suffer from it.

"I also would like to see just some transparency and accountability with the officials. I'm talking about it. At some point, Matt's gonna have the opportunity to talk about it. Let's have an official up here talking about what transpired so it's not just transcript. It's not just 'here's the report.' I think we can move forward in a strong way if we have that as well. It's disappointing but I'll try to leave it at that so we can focus on the game."

The announcement of the sanctions Wednesday bookended a three-plus-week saga. During that time, Miazga served the one-match suspension for yellow-card accumulation and the question of further discipline stemming from the Nov. 4 match loomed over him and the club.

Miazga will now miss the rest of the postseason for FC Cincinnati, which on Saturday hosts Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference semifinal at TQL Stadium.

At least one of those suspended games will carry over to 2024, with only two potential games left in the season. If FCC is eliminated this weekend, Miazga will miss the first two regular-season matches next year.

PSRA, the referees' union, publicly touched off the weeks-long controversy with a Nov. 4 thread on X, formerly Twitter, in which the organization stated an unnamed player forcibly entered the referees' locker room following the Cincinnati-Red Bulls first-round MLS Cup playoff match. The post indicated Red Bull Arena stadium security needed to forcibly remove the player for acting in an "aggressive and hostile manner."

The PSRA called for MLS to take appropriate disciplinary action.

"This is an unacceptable and, as we recall, unprecedented violation of league policy and sporting integrity," the PSRA stated in its thread via X. "Violations like this will not be tolerated."

Enquirer sources later confirmed the player was Miazga. However, those same sources disputed PSRA's account of the incident. Noonan later spoke out against the allegations, calling them "fabricated."

Sources said Miazga went to the referees to discuss the second yellow card he received in the Nov. 4 match. At dispute was how aggressive Miazga was during that exchange.

A league source with direct knowledge of the events at Red Bull Arena took issue with the characterization of Miazga being hostile while being removed, telling The Enquirer that stadium security did not intervene. The source said an FC Cincinnati communications department employee helped move Miazga along from the area of the referees' locker room.

Reached by The Enquirer, an MLS official declined to comment on both the MLSPA statement and Noonan's comment.

The Enquirer will update this story.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati: Pat Noonan, MLSPA speak out on Matt Miazga sanctions