Comments bench Ellinger

When Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger vehemently criticized referee Ben Jones following RSL's 2-1 loss at Houston last week, he knew a fine was inevitable. He probably didn't anticipate a suspension being handed down as well.

On Wednesday, the league suspended Ellinger for one game and fined him $1,000 for "public criticism of game officials" and "comments that questioned the integrity of an MLS official."

The suspension is to be served this Saturday when Salt Lake hosts the New England Revolution. Ellinger doesn't plan to appeal the suspension, and assistant coach Peter Mellor will serve as head coach this weekend.

"I hadn't really publicly criticized the refs before in this league, but I felt I needed to address it," Ellinger said Wednesday. "I knew making the statement, it was going to get me in trouble."

Following the loss to Houston, in which the ref overturned an apparent RSL goal because of offsides in the second half, Ellinger told the media, "My initial thought is Ben Jones has cheated us now in two games. We're told at the beginning of the year referees don't impact games. Well, after two performances by this gentleman in those two games, I beg to differ. He impacts everything you do."

Ellinger was also frustrated that a second yellow card wasn't issued to defender Eddie Robinson in the second half following his reckless challenge on Jeff Cunningham.

"That should've been a red card on Eddie Robinson. Ben looks at his book, sees he's already given him a card, and now he goes and talks to him," Ellinger said Saturday. "(Houston coach Dominic Kinnear) actually realizes what's going on and takes him out of the game. So Dom takes care of the problem because the referee can't take care of the problem."

The other incident Ellinger was referring to was a May 6 home match against Columbus. Late in the game, with RSL trailing 1-0, Ellinger believed Jones ignored a handball in the box that would've given Real a penalty kick.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com