PRO Referees Admit Mistake in Sporting KC vs. St. Louis City

Sporting Kansas City played St. Louis City SC in both teams return to play after a seven-week break in a game that was ultimately won 3-2 by St. Louis. Both teams looked rusty. Sporting KC had a 30-ish minute stretch in the first half where St. Louis should have probably put in far more than the two goals they actually scored.

But Sporting KC stormed back in the game leveling it, before giving up a late penalty kick that cost them a road point in a heated rivalry game.

When Major League Soccer returned after the World Cup break, it wasn’t just the players that looked rusty in their first action back. PRO Referees were back in preseason form.

Alan Chapman and his crew called a loose game full of questionable calls. Nothing was more controversial than that penalty kick. Ethan Bartlow was called for a handball in the box, but he swore on the life of his mother, it hit his chest first.

Despite that, the VAR Edvin Jurisevic and AVAR Tom Supple called Chapman to the monitor. After looking at a few replays and checking for STL being offside in the buildup, Chapman reversed his original call of a corner kick. It was surprising for a couple reasons. First, Chapman appears to have a clear line of sight on his original call. Second, it takes clear visual evidence to overturn the call.

On the broadcast, most of the angles they showed were from behind Bartlow and you can see the ball change directions, but you cannot tell if it hit his chest, arm, or both. They briefly show another angle where the ball is a blur and Chapman changes his call. Was it clear?

Blorian (5) and Chapman talking while the VAR reviewed the call. | Credit: Thad Bell

No. Not according to PRO on their “Definitive Angle” feature released today.

“When the ball comes off another part of the body, clearly changes direction, and then goes to the hand or arm, it is seen as a successful block, and it is not a handball offense unless there is a secondary action/movement. However, if the ball does not clearly change direction and continues on the same trajectory before going to the hand or arm, then it will still be a handball offense if the arm is making the body unnaturally bigger.

In this situation with Bartlow (SKC), the ball first strikes his chest; however, it is not clear if the ball was still going towards the goal, and it is possible that the defender successfully blocked the ball with his chest. Therefore, PRO would have preferred that a review was not recommended.”

Saying they prefer that the review was not recommended is as about close as you will get to PRO admitting a mistake.

Well, beyond the egregious error they admitted in the playoffs in 2023 when the Houston Dynamo saved a goal with a hand that should have led to a red card and a penalty kick in a game Sporting KC ultimately lost 1-0.

Looking at the angles, it seems pretty obvious it hit his chest. Well, to everyone except the VAR and Chapman. Have a look for yourself.

Who knows how the rest of that game plays out, but the goal was the deciding factor. Instead of both teams leaving Eastern Missouri with a point, St. Louis unjustly get all three points and Sporting KC return home with none.

In today’s standings, it would push STL down to 9th and not impact KC, keeping them in last. We’ll see if they matter when the season comes to an end.