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MLS Ref’s Savage Delivery of a Video Review Call Had Soccer Fans Laughing So Hard

Kristen Wong

Screengrab on Twitter/ @RobUsry

With ever-serious international tournaments like the European Championship and Copa America underway this summer, soccer fans can seek a brief moment of reprieve—and hilarity—in a league that’s in a class of its own: the MLS.

Known half-jokingly as the destination where some of the world’s best soccer players go to retire (case in point: Argentinian icon and Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi), the MLS surprisingly delivered an all-time great moment for fans on Saturday night.

The moment was less an instance of tactical or technical brilliance than it was born out of the wit and humor of one very sassy referee named Filip Dujic.

In Atlanta United’s 1-1 draw against St. Louis CITY SC over the weekend, MLS ref Filip Dujic took it upon himself to explain a VAR ruling of St. Louis’s potential goal in the 39th minute. During his short time in the spotlight, Dujic turned what was meant to be a standard procedure into quite the comical bit. 

“After review, there was no offside offense,” Dujic began, eliciting cheers and applause from the St. Louis crowd.

Dujic then smirked and raised his palm to silence the home fans. 

“However,” Dujic continued, “prior to the goal, there was a foul committed by St. Louis. The final decision is direct free kick.”

The VAR team had spotted a foul in the video review—St. Louis midfielder Eduard Lowen’s challenge on Atlanta’s Tristan Muyumba in the build-up of the attack—thereby nixing the goal and instead awarding a free kick.

The crowd was less than enthused after the call, but after all, the referee was just doing his job—and perhaps having a little bit of fun, too.

Fans loved it.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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