The mysterious operating procedure of Major League Soccer’s disciplinary committee continued Thursday with an announcement that Sounders forward Clint Dempsey had been further penalized for an incident that happened nearly four weeks ago.
No other North American professional sports league metes out discipline quite like MLS: using an anonymous five-member committee that punishes players with minimal explanation, apparently even for events most fans have long since forgotten. In Dempsey’s case, he’d already served an automatic one-match suspension after a red card received March 18 in a loss at FC Dallas for appearing to backswing his elbow at defender Jacori Hayes.