Breaking down Michael Bradley’s comments, by the numbers: Do Canadian refs really favour American teams? By Steven Sandor Posted on September 15, 2014 3 0 960 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley crossed a line on Saturday night. After Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Chicago, which saw Edmonton-based referee Dave Gantar rule out what would have been Gilberto’s winning goal for a phantom push on a Chicago defender, Bradley vented his frustration. And it was captured on the TFC’s official video feed (CLICK HERE). “They continue to assign Canadian referees whenever an American team is playing against an Canadian team… they are going to go make a conscious effort to show that they are not being biased one way or another. It’s not the first time we’ve had this guy this year. What can I say? He’s just not good enough?” A player moaning about officials is nothing new. But it wasn’t that Bradley was simply calling out Gantar for missing a call. He was suggesting that there was a motive behind the call. He suggested that Canadian referees are making “conscious efforts” to call their games a certain way. It’s one thing to challenge a referee’s eyes or even a referee’s judgement. But the second you challenge the official’s character, you need to back that up. Did Gantar make the wrong call on Glberto? Yes. Even the opposing coach, Frank Yallop, allowed that his Fire side was fortunate. Dave Gantar, ball in hand. PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER/ANDREW SOONG “It didn’t look like it was a foul, or whatever the ref called. We got lucky on that one,” Yallop said after the game. But, let’s make this clear. There’s a big difference between a blown call and a blown call because of bias. And Bradley suggested the latter. Let’s take a step back. Bradley suggested that Gantar was “in over his head” doing MLS games, but Gantar is one of North America’s most decorated officials. He’s done World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup matches and, ahem, the infamous 2011 Amway Canadian Championship final, second leg, which saw him make the call to abandon the match during a punishing thunderstorm. And there’s an even bigger issue here. Bradley suggested Canadian refs can’t fairly call games between Canadian-based teams and American-based teams. But is it true? Well, the only thing to do is crunch the numbers; to sift through all of the matches in 2014 — both MLS and NASL — and isolate all the games where a Canadian referee has watched over a meeting between a Canadian-based side and an American-based side. In MLS, it’s happened 16 times so far this season (go to the end of the article for game-by-game summaries). Canadian teams are 5-7-4 (W-L-D) in those matches. But that includes games that involve the Montreal Impact, so don’t read too much into the overall records. Here’s what counts. In those sixteen matches, 203 fouls were called against the U.S. teams; 196 against the Canadian sides. Pretty well even. Yellow cards? A total of 17 yellows were shown to players on the Canadian teams. Guys on the American teams saw 15 cards. Again, pretty close to even. Red cards? Only two have been shown in those 16 games, and both went to the Canadian teams. But, that sample size is really too small to say anything about. Unless, of couse, you wonder why no U.S.-team player saw a red. Penalties are the only area where the Bradley conspiracy theory could have some merit. American teams have been awarded six spot kicks; Canadian teams have only got two awarded to them. But, based on total fouls called and cards, there’s no way that Bradley’s theory is proven by the numbers. In NASL, the assignment strategy is a little different. PRO, the organization that assigns refs for MLS matches, only assigns refs for NASL games based in the United States. For games in Edmonton or Ottawa, the Canadian Soccer Association assigns the matches. So, that means every game on Canadian soil has a Canadian ref. But PRO has assigned Canadian Mathieu Bourdeau to games in the United States, as well. So, in NASL, so far 19 games have been played between Canadian teams and American teams that have been officiated by a ref from north of the border. The fouls — 243 called against the American teams, 230 against the Canadian teams. Yellow cards — 42 against the American sides, 32 against Canadian sides. Red cards — 2-1, with the Canadian teams getting one more. Penalties — 6-5, with the American teams having the slight edge. So, nothing in the NASL stats, absolutely nothing, to suggest bias. Gantar made a poor call. Canadian officials have made poor calls. But we’ve also seen American officials make poor calls in games involving Canadian teams. Ted Unkel, Sorin Stoica, Fotis Bazakos, Balodomero Toledo — check the message boards of Canadian-team fans and see how many times those names pop up. It comes with the territory — refs are always the first target for scorn. But, the stats don’t look to indicate any bias. And, as much as it hurts in the wake of the missed call, Bradley has to do the right thing and apologize. Or, PRO has to do the right thing and give Gantar another Toronto FC assignment as quickly as possible. ?? Detailed stats are below. MLS Canadian teams’ record: 5-7-4 (21-25) Fouls: US 203, CAN 196 Yellows: CAN 17, USA 15 Red cards: CAN 2, USA 0 Penalties: US teams 6, CAN teams 2 March 22 2014 Silviu Petrescu TFC 1, DC United 0 Yellow cards: DCU 1, TFC 1 Fouls DCU 20, TFC 12 April 5, 2014 Silviu Petrescu NYRB 2, Montreal Impact 2 Cards: None Fouls NY 9, Montreal 9 Penalties: NY 1 (missed) April 12, 2014 Dave Gantar Colorado 1, TFC 0 Yellow cards: TFC 1, Colorado 0 Fouls Col 12, TFC 10 April 19, 2014 Silviu Petrescu Vancouver 2, Los Angeles 2 Yellow cards LA 1, Vancouver 1 Fouls: Vancouver 13, LA 10 May 3, 2014 Drew Fischer Vancouver 3, San Jose 2 Yellow cards: Vancouver 1, SJ 1 Fouls: Vancouver 19, SJ 14 Penalties: Vancouver 1, SJ 1 (both converted) May 17, 2014 Silviu Petrescu TFC 2, NYRB 0 Yellow cards: TFC 2, NY 2 Fouls: NY 13, TFC 12 May 31, 2014 Silviu Petrescu Montreal 2, New England 0 Yellow cards: NE 2, Montreal 1 Fouls: Montreal 13, NE 12 July 5, 2014 Dave Gantar DC United 2, TFC 1 Red cards: TFC 1 Fouls: TFC 8, DCU 7 July 19, 2014 Dave Gantar Columbus 2, Montreal 1 Yellow cards: Montreal 1 Fouls: Montreal 9, Columbus 7 July 24, 2014 Drew Fischer Real Salt Lake 3, Montreal 1 Yellow cards: RSL 1, Montreal 1 Red cards: Montreal 1 Fouls: Montreal 13, RSL 9 July 27, 2014 Silviu Petrescu Portland 3, Montreal 2 Fouls: Montreal 20, Portland 5 Yellow cards: Montreal 3, Portland 0 Penalties: Portland 1 (converted) Aug. 10, 2014 Dave Gantar Vancouver 2, Sporting KC 0 Yellow cards: SKC 2, Vancouver 2 Fouls: SKC 25, Vancouver 9 Penalties: Vancouver 1 (missed) Aug. 16 2014 Drew Fischer Sporting KC 4, TFC 1 Yellow cards: 0 Fouls SKC 15, TFC 12 Penalties: SKC 2 (both converted) Aug. 30 2014 Silviu Petrescu New England 3, TFC 0 Yellow cards: NE 3. TFC 1 Fouls: NE 22, TFC 13 Sept. 6 2014 Drew Fischer DC United 0, Vancouver 0 Yellow cards: DCU 1 Fouls DCU 14, Vancouver 8 Sept 13. 2014 Dave Gantar Chicago 1, TFC 1 Yellow cards: TFC 2, Chicago 1 Fouls: TFC 16, Chicago 9 Penalties, Chicago 1 (missed) NASL Canadian teams’ record: 5-11-3 (29-29) Fouls: USA 243, CAN 230 Yellow cards: USA 42, CAN 32 Red cards: CAN 2, USA 1 Penalties: USA 6, CAN 5 April 19, 2014 Mathieu Bourdeau New York 1, FCE 0 Yellow cards: FCE 2, NY 2 Fouls: FCE 23, NY 15 April 19, 2014 David Barrie Minnesota 2, Ottawa 1 Yellow cards: Minnesota 2, Ottawa 2 Fouls: Ottawa 15, Minnesota 11 April 26, 2014 Yusri Rudolf Ottawa 4, Carolina 0 Yellow cards: Carolina 2, Ottawa 1 Fouls: Ottawa 15, Carolina 12 May 3, 2014 Alain Ruch Fort Lauderdale 3, FCE 1 Yellow cards: FTL 3, FCE 1 Red cards: FCE 1 Fouls: FTL 12, FCE 9 Penalties: FTL 1 (converted) May 10, 2014 Justin Tasev Tampa Bay 1, Ottawa 1 Yellow cards: Ottawa 2, TB 0 Fouls: TB 12, Ottawa 11 Penalties: Ottawa 1 (missed), TB 1 (converted) May 24, 2014 Chris Grabas San Antonio 3, Ottawa 2 Yellow cards: SA 3, Ottawa 2 Fouls SA 18, Ottawa 12 Penalties: Ottawa 1, SA 1 (both converted) May 24, 2014 Robert Schaap Atlanta 2, FCE 1 Yellow cards: Atlanta 3, FCE 0 Fouls Atl 13, FCE 9 June 8, 2014 Francis Latulippe FCE 6, Carolina 1 Yellow cards: Carolina 2, FCE 0 Fouls: Carolina 14, FCE 12 Penalties: FC Edmonton 1 (converted) June 8, 2014 Mathieu Bourdeau New York 1, Ottawa 0 Yellow cards: Ottawa 4, New York 2 Fouls: Ottawa 15, New York 14 July 20, 2014 David Barrie New York 1, Ottawa 0 Yellow cards: New York 3, Ottawa 0 Fouls: New York 16, Ottawa 10 July 27, 2014 Chris Grabas Indy Eleven 1, FCE 0 Yellow cards: None Fouls: FCE 7, Indy 6 August 3, 2014 David Barrie FCE 3, San Antonio 1 Yellow cards: SA 3, FCE 2 Fouls: FCE 18, SA 14 Penalties: SA 1 (converted) August 9, 2014 Marie Soleil-Beaudoin Fort Lauderdale 2, Ottawa 1 Yellow cards: FTL 3, Ottawa 1 Fouls: FTL 13, Ottawa 13 August 9, 2014 Mathieu Bourdeau Minnesota 3, FCE 2 Yellow cards: FCE 2, MNU 1 Red cards: MNU 1 Fouls: FCE 15, MNU 11 Penalties: MNU 1, FCE 1 (both converted) August 17, 2014 Robert Schaap San Antonio 1, Ottawa 1 Yellow cards: SA 3, Ottawa 3 Fouls: SA 19, Ottawa 12 Penalties: Ottawa 1 (missed) August 24, 2014 Sheena Dickson FCE 2, Fort Lauderdale 1 Yellow cards: FCE 7, FTL 4 Red cards: FCE 1 (2nd yellow) Fouls: FTL 19, FCE 12 Penalties: FTL 1 (converted) August 30, 2014 Yusri Rudolf Tampa Bay 2, Ottawa 0 Yellow cards: TB 3, Ottawa 2 Fouls: TB 17, Ottawa 11 August 31, 2014 Alain Ruch FCE 2, Minnesota 1 Yellow cards: MNU 1 Fouls: FCE 16, MNU 6 September 7, 2014 Justin Tasev Carolina 2, Ottawa 2 Yellow cards: Carolina 2, Ottawa 1 Fouls: Carolina 12, Ottawa 10
