MISL Denies Cleveland Protest; 5 Players Fined

SAN DIEGO — Major Indoor Soccer League Commissioner Francis Dale denied on Friday the Cleveland Force’s protest of a controversial game played Oct. 27 against the Sockers at the Richfield Coliseum.

Force officials said their team should have had a power play for about 2 1/2 minutes in the second quarter and that Sockers midfielder Hugo Perez scored when he should have been in the penalty box. The Force lost the game, 8-6.

Five players involved in an altercation in that game were fined, according to the MISL office. Sockers goalkeeper Jim Gorsek and defender Fernando Clavijo and Force forward Andy Chapman and defender Dennis Mepham received red cards for violent misconduct and were fined $100 each. Sockers forward Jean Willrich received a red card and a gross midconduct penalty and was fined $400. Willrich also will be forced to sit out the next game, Friday in Dallas.

Sockers defender George Katakilidis had his red card rescinded. Katakilidis was kicked out of the game against Cleveland even though he wasn’t on the field at the time of the altercation.