Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini absolutely lost it during and after his team’s playoff loss to LA in Game 1 of their best-of-three MLS series. Down 1-0 late in extra time, Vancouver had a corner and pushed their keeper upfield. As the ball came out, the keeper tried to wind up for a shot, but the referee stood in his way, colliding with him and tipping possession to LA. That led to a clear offside goal, since the keeper wasn’t in position and only one defender was back. The ref initially allowed the goal, prompting chaos. Players swarmed him. Sartini exploded from the sidelines and eventually got sent off with a red card.
After the match, Sartini carried that energy into his press conference. He didn’t wait for questions before ripping into the officials, calling the referee’s performance the worst of the season. Despite saying he usually likes the ref, he couldn’t hide his frustration. He questioned why play wasn’t stopped after the collision changed possession, even though the rulebook treats refs as part of the field in those situations. When asked if his players were nervous, Sartini blamed the referee again, saying any nerves came from feeling the match wasn’t fairly officiated. He also warned reporters not to ask his players about it, reinforcing that only he would speak on the issue.
Things took a darker turn when it came out that Sartini opened the press conference by joking that if the ref ended up dead, the police might look at him. The statement got backlash quickly, especially from the MLS referees’ association. Sartini returned the next day to apologize, saying the comment was self-deprecating irony and admitted it was a poor attempt at humor after losing control. He looked back on the situation as an emotional overreaction and tried to take ownership, but the damage was done. The press conference became one of the most unfiltered post-game meltdowns of the season.