MLS must resolve referee lockout or risk Lionel Messi's first full season becoming a full-blown farce

Ahead of the MLS season, which began on February 21, the league, PRO and PRSA's bargaining committees had actually come to a tentative agreement over a new CBA. However, when it came down to the PSRA members themselves voting, 95.8 percent said "NO" on the ballot.

PRO had offered the PSRA a five-year CBA with "significantly improved pay and benefits for all parties". The PSRA responded with immediate rejection, claiming that the deal lacked "improvements to travel, scheduling and other quality-of-life issues."

As a result of the rejection, PRO locked out PSRA officials on February 18, and the two sides have yet to find common ground. Instead, a pool of officials from the USL, MLS NEXT Pro, NCAA collegiate soccer and competitive youth levels have been drafted in to take charge of MLS games, with none having ever refereed a match at that level before.

Since the lockout began, the two sides have returned to the bargaining table on multiple occasions, but have failed to find an agreement, despite the presence of a federal mediator. In fact, after their first bargaining session with the mediator failed, PRO then notified the PSRA that their previously rejected February 13 contract offer would remain on the table until midnight on March 11.

In a memo obtained by The Athletic after the meeting, MLS executive vice president, Nelson Rodriguez, shared that the league, alongside PRO, would lessen their offer on the table to the PSRA if they do not accept the terms actively presented to them.

The two sides, then, are actively at a crossroads, and neither is willing to back down.

In the same memo, Rodriguez shared that MLS executives have so far been "pleased with the performance" of officials. This comes despite two incredible errors across weeks one and two, while an additional memo from Rodriquez asked Apple TV commentary teams to not "belabor the point" when it came to the replacement officials.

Rodriguez continued, sharing that in the eyes of the league, the officials performances so far "align with the professional standards observed in the past seasons, maintaining consistency in officiating quality.”

However, the PSRA disagreed, pointing out multiple inefficiencies in performance. In response to the memo obtained by The Athletic, PSRA President Peter Manikowski claimed via email that certain criteria in matches under PSRA officials versus the substitute referees were far different - and not in a positive way.

“There are hard metrics to look at such as the number of video reviews in a weekend (14 last week as opposed to 2-3 in our season averages), the amount of time the ball is in play, number of incorrect offside decisions stopping good attacks, and number of incorrect/avoidable yellow/red cards.” Manikowski wrote. “Refereeing in the professional divisions is driven by experience-guided situational awareness, knowledge of the rules, and expert communication. The locked-out officials display these at the highest level – nine of our officials worked a World Cup Final in 2022 or 2023…This dispute will be resolved by bargaining – and there is clearly more bargaining to be done.”

Through two weeks in the 2024 MLS season, there were 22 instances that went to video review. In 2023, with PSRA officials, there were only two during the same span.

To meet their expectations, the PSRA and their 260 members are requesting roughly $95k more in contributions per MLS team in 2024 than what the tentative agreement the two sides agreed to in early February, per ESPN. That total amounts to an extra $2.75m in total funds across all 29 clubs in the league, which then totals out to a request of $10,956 more per PSRA employee.

The PSRA even penned a letter to Garber himself, inviting him - or any MLS executive - to join them at the bargaining table after the commissioner's comments to Apple TV in which he said: “I can’t remember in my near-40 years in sports, of having a bargaining unit reach agreement and then not have their members support it. Very disappointing. The process, in my opinion, was one that either was intentional or there’s a disconnect between the members and their elected negotiators. So I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to reach an agreement... It’s not the way MLS was hoping to start a season, but you can’t really negotiate with an entity that, in my opinion, hasn’t really negotiated with PRO fairly.”

Since that statement, which aired on February 21 prior to the first match of the MLS season between Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake, Garber has not publicly spoken about the negotiations, nor has he attended a bargaining session - despite the request from the PSRA. PRO, meanwhile, has laid out what their contract is, and - in their eyes - how it's enough of an improvement from the previous CBA to put pen to paper on.

A multitude of officiating errors have occurred through the first two weeks of the MLS season, from 50-50 tackles being whistled as fouls to the offside flag being raised either far too early or far too late on decisions in the final-third. However, two major errors became front and center of the refereeing conversation after the first two weeks of the 2024 campaign, with one each matchday.

In week one, the LA Galaxy were wrongfully reduced to 10 men late in the match due to a ghost-foul on Sergio Busquets from Marco Delgado that led to him receiving a second yellow card in the 87th minute. Five minutes later, Messi netted a late equaliser for Inter Miami.

Delgado made zero content with the Spaniard, and the Barcelona legend even admitted as much after the match, insisting that it was "not even a card". MLS went on to rescind the red card and admit the error.

In week two, meanwhile, the Philadelphia Union score a late equaliser against Sporting Kansas City off a possession from a throw-in that should not have been their ball; rather, it went out of bounds off a Union player, something Union manager Jim Curtin asserted postgame: "Certainly it was their throw-in. There's no question about that."

Through two weeks, that's two critical, game-changing calls that were missed. It may seem like a small number, but they were simple errors that one cannot help think a standard official wouldn't have missed.

The mistakes above all happened on the pitch, but the most significant error in this whole furore came off it.

Ahead of Inter Miami's third match of the season, the center referee for the match - Guiherme Ceretta - was removed just hours before kickoff. Why? His social media profiles were uncovered, and on those pages he was seen sporting a Herons kit. The conflict of interest was immediately brought to light, and he was removed from officiating the contest. It was the third mark against the replacement referees and arguably the most unprofessional of them all so far.

The error brings the entire debacle full-circle. It's the understanding that Messi truly is the face of first-division men's soccer in the United States at the moment; it's the realization the league needs to sit down and think about what is currently happening with the state of play across MLS.

As things stand, with these substitute officials, MLS is failing its superstar, and their fans.

Following their February 18 lockout by PRO, the PSRA was sent a message of support by the MLS Players Association (MLSPA), where they stated they were 'extremely disappointed' in MLS' inability to help sort an agreement.

The voice of the players, the MLSPA issued their statement 24 hours prior to the beginning of the MLS season. They have yet to comment since, but certain players across the league have taken to social media to voice frustration, including Delgado, who was the first to do so.

ESPN FC show Futbol Americas, hosted by ex-USMNT star Herculez Gomez, went on to absolutely batter the league and their mismanagement of the situation after week one of the MLS season. Co-host Sebastian Salazar called out the replacement referees for accepting these assignments and not standing by their fellow PSRA referees even.

Meanwhile, the PSRA themselves have continually been vocal about their current situation, protesting on the streets of New York City over the past two-plus weeks. The protests took place outside MLS headquarters in downtown Manhattan, with members, friends, family and fans themselves all joining the cause.

Distaste for the current scenario between MLS, PRO and the PSRA even made it into league stadiums, with Austin FC supporters being the most vocal across the league. They handed out "red cards" labeled Bring Back The Real Refs across their supporters section while a banner hung behind the net claiming Austin is a Union Town.

It's become more than just broken down negotiations, and the way things are headed, these protests could turn into a widespread movement in the coming weeks. If one club's fans start, what's stopping the rest from joining in? If one TV show starts having these conversations, what's stopping others from following?

The clock is ticking, and it's not in MLS' favor.

We're now just hours away from matchweek three, and there's no positive takeaways for either side. MLS, PRO and commissioner Garber are in their corner, opposite of the PSRA, and the two sides continue to bob and weave each other at the bargaining table.

In the grand scheme of things, the PSRA are not asking for an awful lot. Proper and credentialed officials are necessary for positive growth of the game, and while that's not to say the replacement officials aren't acceptable substitutions given the situation, but rather that MLS is growing at a rate where a debacle like this is embarrassing. The criticism is wide-ranging, and the league continues to dig a deeper and deeper hole with their stance.

If commissioner Garber truly wants MLS to become a global powerhouse where the world's best ply their trade, then he needs to own his words - and his actions - before this relationship can no longer be mended. As the face of the league, he has a pivotal role to play going forward.

Garber has yet to backtrack on his comments regarding the journalists that cover his league, while instead has prioritized what he feels is a bigger picture. That's not to mention MLS' choice to pull 21 of their 29 teams out of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup; U.S. Soccer's oldest and most traditional competition which is often compared to England's FA Cup. Instead, the league is opting to field only eight teams, and 11 developmental MLS NEXT Pro sides, breaking with the tradition and celebration of the Open Cup.

The cards are in Garber's hands; he has the ability to sign the contract, bring back his pool of officials and apologize. However, time is already running out and the league cannot afford more errors from their replacement referees. Otherwise, this whole campaign could become a true farce.