MLS: Tomas Martinez's VAR red card overturned on appeal

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Jul 28, 2018

A red card issued after VAR against Houston Dynamo midfielder Tomas Martinez in Wednesday's match against Philadelphia Union was overturned after review by the Independent Panel set up to hear appeals.

Martinez was in the Union penalty area and went for a ball but instead stepped on Union defender Auston Trusty's foot. The game was tied at 1-1 in the 59th minute when referee Joseph Dickerson sent him off after consulting with VAR. The Union went on to win the game, 3-1, scoring twice with a man advantage.

The three-person Independent Panel unanimously rescinded the one-game suspension and accompanying fine for the red card, though Martinez was separately fined an undisclosed amount by MLS for failure to leave the field in a timely and orderly manner after the red card.



Houston coach Wilmer Cabrera told Pro Soccer USA Dickerson was nervous from the beginning of the game.

"He’s a referee without experience, but the responsibility is not his," he said. "The responsibility is who put him there. [PRO general manager] Howard Webb put him there. It’s his responsibility."

-- The MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended Vancouver midfielder Efrain Juarez an additional two games (three games total) and issued an additional undisclosed fine for bumping referee Christopher Penso during Whitecaps' match at Seattle. The Mexican international was initially issued a yellow card for a foul but then got a second one for dissent when he came over to argue and bumped Penso.