Clint Dempsey Receives Red Card For Ripping Referee’s Notebook

In a weird turn of events, the Seattle Sounders’ Clint Dempsey was given a red card for taking the referee’s notebook and ripping it into pieces.

Clint Dempsey Receives Red Card

During a U.S. Open Cup match between the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers, Dempsey showed the world what he thinks of the referee and the rule book. Now, it is important to rewind a bit and explain the context of the situation. The Sounders were clearly favorites to win yesterday’s matchup, but the 1-1 game went to extra time where tempers began to boil over.

Originally, referee Daniel Radford sent off Brad Evans for two yellow cards at the 69th minute. On top of this, an injury to Obafemi Martins, who had to be taken off on a stretcher, came at the wrong time. Seattle already had used their three substitutions, meaning they had to play the rest of the game with nine men.

So in extra time, Portland scored in the 99th minute. After, Seattle was tired from being down two men and began to get desperate and annoyed with the referee’s calls. So when Michael Azira was given a red card for an elbow to Gastón Fernández, Dempsey absolutely lost his mind.

Now, it is important to note that the game was shot from a far away angle, so it is hard to tell if the elbow was bad or Fernández just embellished the impact. Still, Dempsey proceeded to argue and knocked the referee’s notebook out of his hand, which resulted in him quickly getting a yellow card.

However, the superstar was not finished, as he proceeded to pick up the notebook and tear it into pieces. This, of course, resulted in Radford handing Dempsey a red card, which caused him to get angrier. In the end, he had to be restrained by teammates before leaving the field.

Seattle lost 3-1, finishing the game with only seven men on the field.

Article by Anthony Falco