NEW YORK, NEW YORK (June 11, 2009) – Mexico manager Javier Aguirre will be suspended three matches for his actions during Thursday night’s Gold Cup Group C match against Panama, the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee ruled Saturday.
In addition, the Mexican Football Federation will be fined $25,000 for the conduct of its bench personnel, who engaged in “serious irresponsible behavior” against Panamanian midfielder Ricardo Phillips and others that precipitated an unruly reaction from the partisan crowd at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
Aguirre’s suspension will commence with Mexico’s final group game Sunday against Guadeloupe and make him eligible to return for the final July 26 at Giants Stadium in suburban New York. If eliminated before the semifinals, any remaining games would be served in World Cup qualifying.
Aguirre initiated a fracas at midfield of the 1-1 draw in the 80th minute when he left the technical area surrounding the Mexican bench to stop a loose ball that Phillips had been dribbling. Referee Joel Aguilar whistled the play dead when Phillips had let the ball exit the field of play but continued to play the ball as if it were live.
The Mexican coach extended his leg to block the ball, but instead made contact with Phillips, who fell, regained his feet and shoved Aguirre. That prompted Mexican bench personnel to respond by pushing Phillips and a fracas ensued, with debris showering the field from the crowd. The match was interrupted for approximately 12 minutes until order could be restored.
After reviewing video and several reports from numerous officials on site, including the match commissioner, referee, assistant referees and others, the disciplinary committee determined that while Aguirre was not attempting to injure Phillips, he did leave his designated area to engage in activities that resulted in contact and instigated the incident.
“The committee acknowledged that Mr. Aguirre is well known to them as a responsible person and it was their belief that this was an aberration rather than any aspect of his normal behavior,” CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer wrote in his letter to Mexican general secretary president Decio de Maria informing him of the decision.
The disciplinary committee chaired by David Sabir, the general secretary of the Bermuda Football Association, also included Central American Football Union (UNCAF) President Rafael Tinoco of Guatemala and Tony James of Jamaica, the immediate past chairman of the panel.
Tinoco and James were called by Blazer to replace standing members Hector Gonzales of Mexico and Mike Edwards of the United States, who were excluded to remove any appearance of a conflict of interest.
The committee took special note of the “exemplary behavior of Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa in attempting to get the spectators to allow the game to restart and in helping lead Ricardo Phillips…to a safe exit from the playing field.”
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