In case you might have missed it, on Friday night Women’s Pro Soccer updated the status of the one-game suspensions handed down to the Freedom’s Abby Wambach and St. Louis Athletica’s Kia MacNeill by WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci, essentially suspending MacNeill’s suspension since she was given only one day’s notice to appeal the ruling. Wambach wasn’t affected as Washington didn’t play last weekend.
Neither player has appealed just yet – the St. Louis Post Dispatch said MacNeil will – but it struck me because the the announcement was buried late on a Friday, and it seemed to be just another unsure step in a process last week that wasn’t exactly efficient and clean, but maybe that’s expected from a first-year league. The league is confident that despite the fits and starts of the process, the rulings themselves are proactive and good for the sport, with Antonucci trying to get out in front of dangerous plays and putting players on notice that even when a referee misses some calls, players are still going to be held accountable.
I still wonder, even after noting that the punishment spoke more about the referee’s performance than anything else, is the league overstepping — can anyone recall if MLS has ever handed down an after-the-fact suspension for persistent infringement?
