Amid lockout, Fire will open MLS season with replacement refs

Typically, refereeing assignments in MLS are not a story. Today, they are.

As the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) lockout is still ongoing, the Chicago Fire’s season opener against the Philadelphia Union, like every other MLS game this weekend, will be refereed by replacement officials. 

The pool of officials these referees are selected from includes ones with experience in lower-level professional leagues, NCAA refs, and some from overseas. The common denominator, however, is the lack of substantial professional experience.

Still disagreeing on a Collective Bargaining Agreement, per MLS Executive Vice President of Sporting Product & Competition and former Fire General Manager Nelson Rodríguez, the PSRA and Professional Referee Organization (PRO) have yet to come to a decision on a way to move forward.

“PRO worked for months and addressed all the issues that were raised by PSRA’s bargaining unit,” Rodríguez said last week. “PRO has informed us of its contingency plan for the upcoming MLS season.”

“We are confident in the comprehensive plan they have put in place,” he added.

The PSRA voted by a 96% margin to reject a new contract agreement just over a month ago that, according to a PSRA statement, would have frozen wages, decreased job security, and failed to address high workload and travel for referees.

With widespread concerns around the league with how the refereeing is going to impact the beginning of the MLS season, Union head coach Jim Curtin expressed his optimism for the replacement officials. 

“I’m not going to lie and tell you it’s not a part of the game – it is at every level in every pro sport,” Curtin told the Philadelphia Inquirer this week. “But hopefully, with the addition of VAR, with the good job that the league’s done to get the new officials up to speed as quickly as possible, they can rely on that and lean on that professional experience that they have.”

Who will be the Fire’s refs tonight?

Muhammad Hassan is the referee who has been appointed to lead tonight’s game at Subaru Park, according to PRO, who announced refereeing assignments late this morning. The game will be Hassan’s MLS debut as an official, but he has led a handful of professional games in USL League One and MLS Next Pro.

One of Hassan’s six official matches as a center referee, interestingly, did involve the Fire. He officiated the MLS Next Pro match between Chicago Fire II and New England Revolution II at Bridgeview in July. The game ended in a 1-1 stalemate, with Jack Panayotou scoring for New England and Noeh Hernández leveling things for the Fire before the home team prevailed 5-3 on penalty kicks. No Fire first teamers slated for involvement tonight played in that game, though Victor Bezerra, Sergio Oregel Jr., Allan Rodríguez, Jeff Gal, and Omari Glasgow did appear.

Assistant refs, Bryan Conetta and Seun Yinka-Kehinde, also have no MLS experience. Yinka-Kehinde, an Australian, does have some lower-level professional games under his belt, participating in 10 matches across MLS Next Pro, the USL Championship, and USL League One. Fourth official Kyle Johnston actually also refereed a Fire II game in 2023, overseeing a shootout win after a 2-2 draw with NYCFC II in August. Wyatt Omsberg, Javi Casas Jr., Alex Monis, Kendall Burks, Missael Rodríguez, and Justin Reynolds all played in that game, and Charlie Ostrem was sent off.

Something to keep an eye out for tonight is how many times the referee looks for the cards in his pocket. Across Hassan’s six professional matches, he has handed out a high number of bookings, including six in the Fire II-Revs II game, six in a game between North Texas and Austin II, five in a game between FC Miami and Atlanta II, and a whopping ten (plus one red) in a USL meeting between One Knoxville SC and North Carolina SC. From fourth official Johnston’s limited sample size, he also appears to be card-friendly, issuing 18 yellows and one red across the three games where he has been the center ref (including six yellows in the Fire II-NYCFC II game).