Marco Schällibaum, the stormy Swiss who coaches Montreal’s MLS Impact, is fast gaining a reputation for blowing his temper in a way not seen in these parts since Chris Nilan vigorously slammed penalty box doors or when Expo Manager Gene Mauch launched long-winded tirades against NL umpires.
The coach, who turned 50 this year, has been tossed from games three times already this season, which is still only three-thirds complete. He was also suspended by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for entering the field of play on another occasion.
On Friday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced that Schällibaum will be punished with a $5,000 fine and a two game suspension for the red card he was awarded on August 17 in a game against the D.C. United.
Once again Mauro Biello will take over behind the bench for the Impact in the interim, as the team hosts the Houston Dynamo Saturday and visits the Philadelphia Union on August 31.
Schällibaum's latest outburst occurred when D.C. United's James Riley collided hard with Impact midfielder Justin Mapp in the 75th minute of the match last Saturday.
Impact veteran Patrice Bernier was forced to hold his coach back from United coach Ben Olsen.
"I spoke for my player, Justin Mapp, because he fell down into the camera. Because he's my player, I wanted to go see what happened because it's a very dangerous situation," Schallibaum said at the time. "I was out a little bit from my zone."
Referee Ismail Elfath, who was in his first game, opted to eject both coaches, a rare occurrence. Olsen’s automatic one game suspension was, however, later rescinded by the league.
Schällibaum, who is in his first season leading the Impact, had previously coached in Switzerland for over a decade and then spent time coaching in Qatar, Mongolia and South Korea.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
