Western Sydney Wanderers coach Marko Rudan has received a three-match ban, with one of those suspended, after firing up at the A-League.
Rudan will be sidelined for the Wanderers’ matches against Central Coast Mariners on February 18 and Adelaide United on February 24.
He will be allowed back for the Sydney derby on March 2, however.
Western Sydney Wanderers coach Mark Rudan gestures from the sideline. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Rudan went ballistic after his team lost 4-3 to Macarthur FC, his mood soured after a controversial goal was awarded to the Bulls that relied on a tight goal line decision.
He criticised Football Australia’s head of referees Nathan Magill and the league for not having goal line technology in place for the competition.
After receiving a show cause notice by Football Australia, Rudan doubled down on his criticism during a press conference a few days after the game where he took a personal swipe at A-League commissioner Nick Garcia.
“We’ve got a new commissioner … Garcia I think his name is,” Rudan said. “He was supposed to have a meeting with my CEO, who has only seen him once and [Garcia] was late to that meeting.
“You would have thought that a new commissioner would go out there and speak to CEOs. Get his feet on the ground and have good conversations to try to improve this game.
“But you’ve got guys who only want to be heard when they’ve got something to say … they’re happy to sit in their houses in Manly.”
An FA press release outlined the long list of rulings.
It has been determined that Rudan engaged in conduct that breached several provisions of the Code. Specifically, he was found to have:
- engaged in offensive behaviour, including the use of offensive, obscene, abusive, provocative, indecent, or insulting gestures, language, or chanting (Clause 2.2(a) of the Code).
- engaged in intimidating another person, creating a hostile or unsafe environment within the sport (Clause 2.2(d) of the Code).
- engaged in conduct that brings, or may bring, Football Australia, its sponsors, a Football Administrator, or football generally into disrepute or which is otherwise prejudicial to the interests of Football Australia or football generally (Clause 2.2(g) of the Code).
- made comments, statements, or representations to the public, including via any contribution to any form of media, that are disparaging or derogatory of an official, including a match official, opposition team, or any player (Clause 2.6(a) of the Code).
- failed to behave at all times in a manner that promotes and upholds high standards of integrity, dignity, and professionalism (Clause 5(a)(i) of the Code).
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Anytime a player, coach, etc, is found guilty of dissent, part of the punishment should include refereeing junior games for the duration of the suspension. Sure, they'd cop unwarranted abuse from people in the crowd, but that would actually be appropriate under the circumstances.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Oh please. There has never been and never will be a time where the referees can meet the utterly impossible standards of the public, the media, and the coaching fraternity, all of whom have vested interests in attributing blame to the officials.
Blink
Roar Rookie
More likely lack of quality coaches. No class, no quality. He won't be remembered at all in future apart from being a DH when the going gets tough.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
As a fan of Wellington i know what its like to be unliked by most people and a governing body that wants you out, those dark days of the Nixs i could understand if our coach blew up like Rudan but we live in different times now and Rudan got it wrong. Maybe bring back the metrics and force them on WSW and give us this argument.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
When did it work for Perth And Brisbane in the past? When have they ever concentrated on local Perth and Brisbane born and bred players and had success. First year Wanderers had the same sort of mix but somehow had six foreigners. Hersi,Ono, Polenz, Poljak, La Rocca, Krensinger.
Garry
Roar Rookie
VAR needs to be a refs backup not the final decision. Refs are poor and I think as someone esle said maybe we could introduce marquee refs from other leagues.. a guests month from say an EPL ref (not Jared G tho !) might be fruitful.
Garry
Roar Rookie
nope because a) its really oinly a slap on the wrist b) the APL has to draw a line in the sand
Garry
Roar Rookie
USA and Japan are still rich with football we’re struggling .yes our refs are generally poor but abuse of refs publically by officials and fans exacerbates things. Id hazard a guess its the good ones that tend to drop out as they care the most.
ShirleyKnot
Roar Rookie
Agree with the lack of quality of some of our referees. This is the cause of a lot of the frustration for players, coaches & fans.
ShirleyKnot
Roar Rookie
Josh W - why do you "love" that Rudan's antics "...has the rest of the league against us"? I do support some of the things he said & I think that (just quietly) some of the other club's coaches may even agree with him. However, he does us no favours by representing his team, club & Western Sydney as an ill-mannered bully. As others have already posted here, Rudan needs to behave more professionally & show a little class.
Neil
Roar Rookie
All football comps around have their fair share of disputed decisions and as a Brisbane Roar supporter I believe we have had more than our fair share of those. But this is football and nothing is perfect. I believe referees should be more authoritarian on pitch so players attempting cheating are inclined not to do so, there are too many advantage plays when serious offences require immediate action and I hate the VAR. So where is Mark Rudan when other teams cop mistakes from Refs and the VAR, I will tell now where to be found.
JoshW
Roar Rookie
Fulfilling the daily quota of WSW comments?
Waz
Roar Rookie
Ha Ha, for the whole league to be “against you” they’d all have to care, and they really don’t - Wanderers have never been champions of Australia and under Rudan show no signs of doing so anytime soon. And if they want to make that “no one likes us, everyone hates us” thing work they need to fill the squad with west Sydney born & bred players, it worked for Perth & Brisbane in the past. Instead, the good folk from the West look at a team made up of over paid foreigners, Australian journeymen, and led by a Sydney FC ‘Hall of Fame’ inductee … you really couldn’t make it up - Wanderers have lost their identity.
Nick
Roar Rookie
Lost any credibility in his cause with his actions on the pitch after the whistle and then the repeated rants. The bloke needs to grow up, leave the bullying and tantrums to the kids. The Wanderers deserve better and if anything he's only perpetuating the "stigma" he speaks of.
338
Roar Rookie
Oooooooh. So the coach can still be at the ground just not talk to his team. Wow – What a terrible burden to bear. He must be so remorseful !! About as scary as the sanctions for the NRL players getting drunk and having a public blue ahead of their window dressing las vegas jaunt. Maybe the Fa/APL amd coaches could get together and have a sensible conversation about how to get more quality refereeing in the A league? Not condoning the abuse, but there are some poor decisions being made even with (or due to??) VAR and that is affecting the game. There needs to be some discussion about the cause of the frustration and discontent. Pat Wood send off a good example.
Brendan
Roar Pro
Rudan’s got the support of WSW chairman, Paul Lederer, who has around $1.5 billion behind him. Rudan, right or wrong, has no fear. The APL don’t scare him, in fact, they need the Wanderers, very much. Will the ban be overturned? Stay tuned.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
And yet, Evans was refereeing in Korea in ACL midweek. So a lack of quality referees across Asia perhaps?
Denzo
Roar Rookie
Does anybody know why Germain and Grimaldi were allowed to stay on the pitch in the last two weeks?
Denzo
Roar Rookie
This isn’t about Rudan, it is about the lack of quality referees in the game. Apart from Ali F and Alex King, the rest are not up to standard. Evans and Kersey were a disgrace recently and the three game ban merely papers over the wrong cracks. If you speak to the batch of referees that left the elite panel last year then they will tell you the FFA has an insufficient number of referees that can officiate at the highest level. Games are now being determined by the referee. USA and Japan are getting the technology this year.
JoshW
Roar Rookie
I support him 100%. I love that he's speaking out and has the rest of the league against us. Siege mentality is brilliant if it can last longer than this season as WSW won't make the finals in 2024. There's absolutely no way Macarfur should have won.