CF Montréal: An Interesting Scandal in La Belle Province
By: Anthony Tazbaz
Image Credit: Chan Hout
Weird times in football during these past few weeks.
For those who follow football religiously, we surely followed several scandals over the past few years, from John Terry to Adam Johnson, to Juventus FC's recent financial woes. However, these past few weeks seem to have more than usual.
From Mason Greenwood, to Antony, to Jadon Sancho, Manchester United were (and are still) swamped with scandals, ranging from sexual abuse and domestic violence, to benching star players amid allegations of lacking work ethic. Oh, and a botched last-second transfer to Saudi Arabia concerning Sancho.
With legendary MLS coach Bruce Arena resigning from the head coaching position at New England Revolution amid allegations of making insensitive and inappropriate remarks, many players mutinied against the club by refusing to train until they received further information regarding the investigation on Arena. One player mentioned that most players do not trust interim coach Richie Williams to lead the team.
However, one recent scandal undoubtedly tops the scandals mentioned above. That is one concerning CF Montréal midfielder Matko Miljević, who violated rules stipulated in his MLS contract.
Diving Deeper
The reason for breach of contract: playing for another club. While upset at the lack of playing time, Miljević registered to play for Rage, an amateur club in Laval - a suburb of Montréal - under an alias Matko Milojević (how deceiving). The club participates in the Ligue Québecoise de Soccer Calcetto (QCSL), an indoor soccer league where each club fields 6 players on the pitch.
While blending undercover during his first three games, he blew his cover after spitting and punching an opponent in the face during a scrum between players from both clubs while Rage were trailing 5-0. Miljević is suspended for life from the QCSL and will surely face disciplinary action due to his breach of contract.
During his stint with the Laval-based club, he registered six goals. Despite this strong performance, the 22-year-old was unable to translate this to the MLS pitches, where he has yet to score a goal in eight matches, 124 minutes played. Last season, he posted dreadful numbers, scoring only one goal (a penalty shot goal which he drew and later got fined for simulation) and one assist in 22 matches (6 starts).
At The End of The Day
Miljević may be in bigger trouble than just a potential suspension by his actual club. As of writing on Sunday evening, trusted journalist/The Sick Podcast producer Tony Marinaro reported that CF Montréal reportedly terminated his contract. In addition, the victim of the assault is seriously considering pressing charges, which could result in a criminal investigation under the Quebec code.
CF Montréal head coach Hernan Losada also confirmed that Miljević was not included in the list for their weekend match against the Chicago Fire due to the incident. He may be excluded from the remaining match lists, considering there are only five matches left in the regular season.
Unfortunately, his tenure in Montréal will be remembered by this and as a failed experiment replacing Djordje Mihailović, despite playing a full season-and-a-half before the American's official departure. While Miljević definitely proved that he is human and made a grave mistake, it also proves that Sporting Director Olivier Renard made a mistake, albeit a rare one regarding player signings.
However, such an incident could spark player associations to explore possible options for players who fall out of favour to play in non-related leagues (legally) while getting benched at their club.
What do you think? Would this be a viable option?
It could definitely help players coping through a stressful and frustrating period in their careers, but maybe spitting and punching someone in the face is where the player associations can draw the line.
