Matko Miljevic suffered a first consequence of his actions: the CF Montreal midfielder was kept away from the club’s training Thursday morning at the Nutrilait Center.
The Argentine Impact player was suspended from an amateur soccer league in Laval after a violent altercation with an opponent from the said league. The events in question took place last Monday. Miljevic, who was not playing for his amateur team that evening, spat, then punched an opposing player in the face.
The news was first reported by the blog Danslescoulisses.com on Wednesday.
“We are aware of the situation,” commented CFM head coach Hernán Losada on Thursday morning, before training. The league has begun an investigation. He will not participate in training until the investigation is finalized. »
Article 16 of the collective bargaining agreement between the players’ association and MLS states that a league player cannot engage, without the consent of his team, “in sports or activities that constitute a substantial danger to their health and safety.” A list of hobbies that includes soccer.
Matko Miljevic could thus receive a fine or suspension from the MLS.
Note that the Argentinian is actively looking for playing time with the CFM, having only played 124 minutes for the team in 2023. This perhaps partly explains his desire to loosen his legs in a such circuit.
The amateur league in question is the Ligue québécoise de Soccer Calcetto (QCSL), an organization based in Laval since 1994.
Miljevic reportedly registered there a few weeks ago, under the pseudonym “Nicolas Sotelo”.
“He played under a completely different name than his name,” explains the director of the QCSL, who prefers not to be named, over the phone with La Presse.
“We didn’t know. We have an honor system when we register players. They are asked their name and date of birth. […] This is simply the minimum we ask for. »
Matko’s name “Milojevic” appears today on the league website, along with his photo and the words “Suspended indefinitely”.
But that’s not what his name is about, the real problem. “It is not up to us to prevent him from playing in our league” if Miljevic makes this “personal life” choice, believes the director.
This is because the actions of the professional player in the amateur circuit began to displease even before the altercation on Monday evening.
“We didn’t appreciate the way he spoke with one of our referees” a few weeks ago, “about something that didn’t even belong to him.”
“I saw him two, three times in my league, and each time he attracted negative attention,” explains the director, who notes a lack of professionalism on Miljevic’s part.
Arrives Monday evening. The Argentinian came to watch his team’s match, without taking part in it.
“He was on the bench,” says the manager. There was something, a word between him and an opposing player. And [Miljevic] spat on him. The guy from the other team said something back in Spanish, stood up and punched him in the face. That’s why he was suspended. »
The QCSL code of conduct states that a suspension of “five weeks minimum” is appropriate when this type of incident takes place.
“It is suspended until further notice” because “five weeks is not enough,” says the director. He doesn’t believe, in any case, that the CFM player will want to come back and kick the ball in his league.
Does this kind of incident happen often in QCSL?
“In our league, we manage around 3,000 matches per year,” he answers. An event like that can happen four or five times in a year. […] We have a reputation for being really strict in this regard. »
Fans who deplore the offensive ineffectiveness of CF Montreal should soon be able to breathe a little. It is not impossible that Romell Quioto, injured since mid-May, could play valuable minutes Saturday night against the Chicago Fire in Montreal. Otherwise, it will go to Wednesday against Cincinnati.
“He did training with the group,” Hernán Losada said on Thursday. So we will see if at the end of the week he can help us, or if the risk is too great and we wait for the match on Wednesday. » On the other hand, he qualified his remarks by talking about incomplete training for Quioto, and especially the fact that he “missed a lot of matches”.
In addition to the doubtful case of the Honduran, only Robert Thorkelsson and Aaron Herrera will be completely excluded from training on Saturday. Which means that Joel Waterman should be able to return to his position in defense after missing the last match against the Crew.
