CONCACAF suspends four players for Mexico v USA game for ‘misconduct by players on the pitch’

A week after the USA defeated Mexico 3-0 in a game marked by kicks, fights and anti-gay slogans, CONCACAF imposed four player bans. Cesar Montes and Gerardo Arteaga of Mexico, and Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest of the US have all been banned for “player misconduct on the pitch,” the organization announced on Friday.

Montes and McKennie were suspended for three games. Arteaga and Dest were suspended for two games. The bans are in addition to the automatic one-game ban any player will receive after being banned from the game on June 15th.

Montes received a red card after kicking Folarin Balogun in the leg. That led to one melee on the field That ended up with McKennie receiving a red card as well.

Later in the game, Dest and Arteaga also received red cards commit to it on the field. The game ended five minutes early after things developed further in the stands, where fans chanted an anti-gay slogan. After the game, CONCACAF said the game was not abandoned because of this chant.

American players are not actually going to miss games due to suspensions

The bans can be served during Gold Cup games, benefiting both McKennie and Dest. Neither player is on Team USA’s Gold Cup roster. Despite this, these games still count towards the time of their bans.

That will not be the case for Team Mexico. Both Montes and Arteaga are in the team’s Gold Cup squad and will actually miss games due to the suspensions.