Washington Spirit head coach Kris Ward and the club itself have both been fined for public criticism of NWSL referees.
The Spirit’s fine as a club came for social media posts vocally backing Ward’s comments. The second-year head coach’s remarks came after a 1-1 draw with the Portland Thorns last week, but were not the first such statements from Washington this season. While Ward was initially addressing an Emily Sonnett goal that was called back, he transitioned into looking over the course of the season, citing multiple incidents sprinkled throughout the Challenge Cup and regular season.
“You want to have talented players on the field, which, people tune in to watch Ashley Sanchez. People tune in to watch Trinity Rodman,” said Ward in post-game remarks to reporters. “If you’re not going to do your job in protecting them, that’s not going to be the case.
“The league at some point has to make a decision as to what they want to do, because this is what continues to happen. It’s so frustrating to watch it time and time and time again, and listen to the absolute nonsense that comes back from [the league].”
An injury-filled season for the Spirit
Ward’s frustration may stem from injuries he’s seen the Spirit pick up this season. Washington has been without at least five players due to injury in every game it has played this season, and while many of those involve long-term issues, several have come directly from collisions in games.
Sonnett missed three Challenge Cup games with broken ribs in the club’s first competitive match of the year, while Tara McKeown suffered a foot injury less than a week later that has kept her off the field for over a month. Ward cited the Sonnett injury specifically in the comments that drew the fine, saying: “Sonnett gets kicked in the ribs in the Orlando game, broken ribs in the very first game, and the league’s response is, ‘Well, she finished the game.’ Are you out of your mind, that that’s your response when someone clearly gets kicked twice and has broken ribs? Your response is that she finished the game? Because she’s a warrior, she’s strong, and you’re not going to do anything to protect her.”
More recently, Dorian Bailey has missed two games with a cheekbone injury after a hard collision against Angel City FC. Ashley Hatch, who has played through some hard tackles while also being fined by the league for a high foot of her own in the Challenge Cup final, left this past weekend’s draw at OL Reign after a first-half clash of heads, with Washington using a concussion substitution to remove her.
NWSL’s referee concerns
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ward said he had not heard from the league in terms of how the issue might be addressed since receiving his fine, but had spoken with Alex Prus, the director of PRO2 (the tier of referees from PRO that call NWSL and USL Championship matches), about the specifics of the goal called back in Portland.
The Challenge Cup final ended up seeing multiple players substituted due to injury, with Jordan Baggett needing a brief examination at a nearby hospital and North Carolina Courage forward Kerolin suffering an ankle injury after a tackle from Sam Staab inside the box went uncalled.
Ward’s remarks may be specific to this season, but they’re also the latest chapter in a years-long complaint that players, coaches, and fans have had about NWSL. Namely, the league is widely seen as incredibly physical, while also being inconsistently officiated.
A report from ESPN earlier this week noted that, through the Professional Referees Organization (PRO), NWSL referees are paid a lower per-game rate than they would receive working an MLS or USL Championship match. The same report noted that NWSL only covers a small portion of the financial burden of keeping PRO in business.
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