Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan has been suspended for 10 games and fined more than $5,000 by Major League Soccer after a horror tackle which broke the leg of Seattle Sounders midfielder Steve Zakuani.
Mullan was given an automatic one-game suspension and a $250 fine after he was shown a red card for his wild, sliding tackle from the side in the third minute of last Friday’s game. But the MLS disciplinary committee took a dim view of the tackle and added an extra nine games and another $5,000 fine after Zakuani was ruled out for the season following surgery to his fractured right leg. “The Disciplinary Committee determined that Mullan’s challenge was reckless, egregious, and showed utter disregard for the safety of his opponent,” the league said in a statement on Thursday.
The suspension is the largest handed out by the league since former Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark was ruled out for a total of 10 games and fined $10,000 for a wild kick at an opponent on the floor during a match in 2007.