ABC-7 speaks to ref association about soccer fight

ABC-7 looked into what many viewers questioned about last week’s Andress-Jefferson soccer fight.

What about the referees? Could he have done anything to keep the players in check?

A parent’s cell phone video shows Joseph Ellington from Andress and Jefferson’s Edgar Perez get tangled up. Ellington appears to grab Perez around the waist and Perez throws an elbow. The contact appears to escalate between both players.

In the end, Perez suffered a broken jaw. He, Ellington, and five players from each team were suspended for three games. The name of the Andress player accused of breaking Perez’s jaw is not being released, however he was kicked off the team.

Many parents told ABC-7 they thought the ugly fight could have been prevented, had the referees done a better job of controlling the game.

“The referee that was involved in that match, he actually has about 16 years of experience,” said Christopher Lopez, president of the Soccer Referee Association of El Paso. “Fortunately, I was able to review some of the video and actually talk to the officials.”

ABC-7 asked Lopez if the fight could have been prevented.

“Unfortunately, that is something that we as referees, we couldn’t even have done anything about,” Lopez said. “Looking at the video, those two individuals (Ellington and Perez) were heated already and that mindset kind of actually provoked it. So now when you see that happen and you see the other players trying to come to the aid of the other player — that’s normally what players do — then you get the parents involved, then you got complete chaos.”

“The kids need to probably do a better job of controlling their temper,” said Bruce Reichman, Del Valle’s two-time state championship (2005 and 2008) soccer coach. “I think for the most part, the officials do a good job of controlling the game. We keep the parents on one side of the field and the coaches and teams on the other side of the field.”

At Jefferson, however, where the fight occurred, Reichman pointed out the players and parents from both teams are on the same side.

“It is unfortunate that it comes down to sometimes that a referee will be blamed for this,” Lopez added. “But again, after reviewing some of the information, I’m very confident that our officials did their job. It’s unfortunate there was absolutely, at that point, when the teams broke out, there was nothing else we could have done.”

Lopez said last week’s Andress-Jefferson game was fully staffed with three referees. However, he admitted, due to a lack of referees in El Paso, that’s not always the case.

If you’d like to help by becoming an official, go to the Soccer Referee Association of El Paso web site at www.sraep.org.