Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini given massive suspension for playoff tirade

Major League Soccer has thrown the book at Vanni Sartini. The Vancouver Whitecaps head coach has been suspended for six games and fined $20,000, the league announced today.

Sartini must also complete a “league-approved behavioural assessment” and “comply with any recommended treatment.”

The league noted “multiple violations of league policy,” during and following Vancouver’s playoff match against LAFC at BC Place on November 5. The violations included “entering the field of play in a confrontational manner” and “public criticism” of the referee during his post-match press conference.

The fiery Italian manager was handed a red card following one of the most chaotic plays you’ll ever see during the final minutes of the match.

With Vancouver pressing for the equalizer during the third minute of stoppage time, referee Tim Ford effectively bodychecked Whitecaps midfielder Alessandro Schopf to the ground. Not only did it prevent a scoring chance for the Whitecaps, but it also caused a turnover and gifted a goal to LAFC.

One of the most chaotic ways to end your season I've ever seen.

A well-executed pick by the referee and the Vancouver Whitecaps crash out of the MLS Cup playoffs. pic.twitter.com/4re1TBnEU5

— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) November 6, 2023

The goal was later taken back after video replay because it was offside, but not before Sartini charged the field, furious that the play wasn’t blown dead.

Eight Whitecaps players and two coaches were also fined undisclosed amounts, including Yohei Takaoka, Ranko Veselinovic, Ryan Gauld, and Simon Becher for “inciting and/or escalating” a mass confrontation.

Whitecaps players Luis Martins, Ali Ahmed, and Javian Brown, as well as assistant coaches Youssef Dahha and Michael D’Agostino, were fined for “entering the field of play in a confrontational manner, during a confrontational incident.”

Mathias Laborda, meanwhile has been fined and suspended for one match for “entering the field of play in a confrontational manner, during a confrontational incident and inciting and/or escalating a mass confrontation.”

The Whitecaps went on to lose the match, which ended their season.

When speaking with reporters Sartini pulled no punches, saying, “The referee was a disaster.”

He also compared the referee to a hockey enforcer, saying that the Vancouver Canucks players in attendance were better suited to comment on the play.

The league also probably wasn’t impressed with Sartini’s comment that if the referee was found floating facedown in False Creek, he would be the No. 1 suspect the police would be looking for. Sartini was clearly joking, poking fun at himself, but it probably wasn’t the best way to articulate his thoughts.

Sartini will miss the first six matches of next season, which could put the Whitecaps behind the eight ball in 2024.

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