Columbus Crew have dismissed Federico Higuain after he refused to let go of a female referee's hand and said, "don't forget this is a man's game." The incident happened during an MLS Next Pro league match, and Higuain was sent off and given a two-match suspension. The referees' union says that punishment fell far too short.
Crew move on leadership standards
Issa Tall, the Crew's general manager, said the club acted after assessing what had happened over the past month. "We determined it's in the best interest of our club, players and support staff to dismiss Federico Higuain from his responsibilities," Tall told the BBC.
Tall added: "After conversations this week and further assessing the past month, our club's standards of what's expected from a leader for one of our teams have not been met." That is the key reason Columbus acted so quickly. The club did not wait for the issue to fade into background noise.
The union's response
The Professional Soccer Referees Association went much harder on the discipline. It said the two-match ban "falls drastically short" after what it described as two deliberate acts of physical abuse and sexism against a female official.
Its statement said a male head coach was "squeezing her hand and refusing to let go after being told to stop three times." It also said, "This physical intimidation was compounded by a demeaning, sexist remark to the official: 'Don't forget, this is a man's game.'"
The story is now less about the match itself and more about what followed. Columbus have decided Higuain's conduct crossed their line, and the union's public response has made clear it thinks MLS did not draw that line far enough.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
