Canada Soccer preparing response to CONCACAF over alleged incident in Vancouver

Canada's head coach Jesse Marsch reacts during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match against Mexico Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Canada Soccer says it is preparing its response to CONCACAF over an alleged incident involving suspended coach Jesse Marsch at Canada’s 6-0 Gold Cup win over Honduras on Tuesday in Vancouver.

CONCACAF said it has initiated disciplinary proceedings “to investigate the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and its head coach, Jesse Marsch, for incidents that occurred during the 2025 Gold Cup match between Canada and Honduras on June 17, 2025.

“The Disciplinary Committee will review all available evidence, including official reports detailing that the CSA and its head coach disregarded regulations applicable to suspended match officials and used offensive language toward CONCACAF match officials.”

Marsch, serving the first of a two-game ban, watched the game at B.C. Place Stadium from a suite alongside other Canadian team officials. TV showed him taking notes and watching, with a laptop in front of him. Assistant coach Mauro Biello ran the sideline in his absence.

“We received a notice from CONCACAF and are currently gathering the relevant information, for our submission, as part of the process to resolve this matter,” Canada Soccer said in a one-sentence statement Thursday.

Canada, ranked 30th in the world, continues Group B play in Houston against No. 90 Curaçao on Saturday and No. 81 El Salvador on Tuesday.

Marsch’s original suspension stems from a red card received in the third-place game at the CONCACAF Nations League in March.

In addition to the automatic one-game ban for the red card, Marsch was given another game by the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee in mid-April “for unacceptable conduct towards the match officials and for delaying the restart of the match by refusing to leave the field of play.”

At the time, the Disciplinary Committee also warned Canada Soccer and Marsch “that more severe sanctions could be taken should incidents occur during future matches.”

Marsch was sent off in the 54th minute of Canada’s 2-1 win over the U.S. on March 23 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., for protesting the lack of a penalty call by Mexican referee Katia Garcia.

Marsch, still smarting over a missed penalty in the 2-0 semifinal loss to Mexico when Mexican captain Edson Alvarez got a piece of Derek Cornelius in the Mexican penalty box, saw red after Garcia waved play on after Jonathan David hit the turf for the second time in the U.S. penalty box.

Replays seemed to show David lost his footing as he attempted a quick turn to evade defender Max Arfsten. David had also gone down minutes earlier in the U.S. box under pressure from Tyler Adams with Garcia waving play on.

Marsch acknowledged that his anger at the no-calls was fuelled in part by his squad’s ongoing frustration at their treatment in CONCACAF.

“I said this a little bit the day before the (third-place) match, the players made it clear to me that we needed to stand up for ourselves,” Marsh said at the time. “Obviously I was disappointed with the referee (Honduran Hector Martinez) in the match against Mexico. But they were angry. There’s a difference between disappointment and anger. And they were very clear that they think that we need to do something.”

“The only miscalculation I made was I should have had that reaction for the first penalty. Because the second one wasn’t a penalty,” he added.

Marsch reckons he had received four or five red cards previously in his managerial career — and two as a player.

This report by Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press, was first published June 19, 2025.