Referee Tim Ford was wrong, MLS review panel rules for Whitecaps

Fans of the Vancouver Whitecaps, the authorities agree with you, at least this one time.

Article content

An independent review panel — made up of a U.S. Soccer official, a Canada Soccer official and a representative of the Professional Referees’ Organization — announced Tuesday that referee Tim Ford erred in issuing a second yellow card to ‘Cap defender Edier Ocampo Saturday.

Article content

A second yellow means a red card and a red card means you’re banned from the next match — so the red has been wiped from the books and Ocampo is now free to play Sunday vs. Houston. New teammate Thomas Muller is expected to make his Whitecaps debut Sunday, by the way.

The expulsion of Ocampo Saturday dramatically turned the game, with the high-flying ‘Caps forced to play with 10 men for much of the game, handing the San Jose Earthquakes an advantage. San Jose eventually won the match, considered a big upset, 2-1 on a stoppage-time goal.

Article content

Ford drew the ire of the Whitecaps, with injured players Sam Adekugbe and Ryan Gauld taking to social media to voice their displeasure, while players on the field, including Ocampo himself, also expressing their frustration.

Ocampo was indeed fined Tuesday by Major League Soccer for “failing to leave the field in a timely manner.” A funny fine now, given that the red card has been wiped from the books.

Ford was heavily criticized for a number of calls in the game, including the yellow to Ocampo and a later decision to award a penalty kick for a foul in the penalty area. The game’s video assistant referee called on Ford to review the play for a possible error, but Ford stood by his decision after watching the video.

After the game, fans discovered a collection of Instagram posts by Ford’s wife showing him and his family at LAFC games. In a separate investigation, PRO told Postmedia that they found nothing inappropriate in the posts but that they were reviewing their policies on “connections” referees may have with their local teams, especially in regards to ethical challenges they may find themselves in.

Article content

Ford and the Whitecaps had a previous run-in: he was the man in the middle for the ‘Caps final playoff game in 2023, where former head coach Vanni Sartini criticized Ford heavily post-game — Ford made a controversial penalty decision and also ended up blocking Whitecaps midfielder Alessandro Schopf on a scoring chance, after which Sartini exploded on Ford and was shown a red card. After the game, Sartini tried to joke that if Ford was found floating in False Creek, Sartini would be the prime suspect. He condemned for his comment, which he was trying to make in jest but was not taken as such by many, including team and league officials. Sartini, who was fired as Whitecaps coach at the end of 2024, would later apologize.

pjohnston@postmedia.com