Major League Soccer announced on Tuesday that Silviu Petrescu has been named the MLS Referee of the Year, the first such honor for a Canadian official in league history.
Petrescu, 42, received more votes from the players (36.78 percent of the total) than any other referee and 50 percent of the media votes (see chart below). He easily topped runner-up Baldomero Toledo and Armando Villarreal to win the award.
Petrescu worked 20 MLS regular season games this year and one in the postseason – the LA Galaxy’s 2-1 win over Vancouver in the Western Conference Knockout Round on Nov. 12 – but perhaps made the most headlines when he officiated the second leg of Amway Canadian Championship in Toronto on May 23.
Toronto FC won that game and the tournament title 1-0 thanks to a goal in the 83rd minute from Reggie Lambe, but Petrescu drew the public ire of Vancouver head coach Martin Rennie when he sent off both TFC’s Julian de Guzman and Vancouver’s Sébastien Le Toux for an altercation early in the second half of the match.
MLS also announced that Ian Anderson was named the Assistant Referee of the Year.
<strong>REFEREE</strong> |
<strong>% Club Votes</strong> |
<strong>% Media Votes</strong> |
<strong>% Player Votes</strong> |
<strong>WEIGHTED TOTAL</strong> |
1. Silviu Petrescu (CAN) |
34.55 |
50.00 |
36.78 |
<strong>121.33</strong> |
2. Baldomero Toledo (US) |
38.18 |
30.00 |
31.03 |
<strong>99.21</strong> |
3. Armando Villarreal (US) |
27.27 |
20.00 |
32.18 |
<strong>79.45</strong> |
