Federico Higuain Sacked by Columbus Crew After Sexist Referee Incident That Shook MLS

Federico Higuain is gone. Columbus Crew made the call quickly, and honestly, they had little choice.

The reserve team coach, younger brother of former Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, was dismissed after an incident during an MLS Next Pro match that left very little room for interpretation. He refused to release a female referee's hand after being told to stop three times, then told her, in front of everyone, 'don't forget this is a man's game.' He was sent off. He received a two-match suspension from the league. Then Columbus Crew went further and sacked him entirely.

What Actually Happened on That Pitch

The details matter here. This wasn't a coach losing his temper and saying something regrettable in the heat of the moment. According to the referees' union statement, Higuain made two deliberate physical contacts with the official, squeezing her hand and refusing to release it even after she asked him to stop multiple times. That's not a lapse in judgement. That's a choice, made repeatedly.

The sexist comment that followed made the intent even clearer. In US MLS, a league that has actively worked to elevate the profile of the women's game and promote diversity at all levels, this kind of behaviour is about as poorly timed and poorly judged as it gets.

The League's Response and Why It Wasn't Enough

The Professional Soccer Referees Association didn't hold back. They described Higuain's original two-game ban as falling 'drastically short,' and from where we're sitting, that's a fair assessment.

Two games for physically intimidating a match official and making a sexist remark is a slap on the wrist. The league's initial punishment sent a weak message at a time when MLS needs to be sending strong ones. Columbus Crew stepped in and effectively did the league's job for it by making the dismissal themselves.

General manager Issa Tall framed it around the club's standards and what's expected from a leader. That's the right framing. A reserve team coach is supposed to be developing young players, setting an example for how to behave at the professional level. This was the opposite of that.

What This Means for US MLS and Referee Respect

US MLS has made genuine strides in recent years. The league's growth has been real, the investment has been real, and the push to develop refereeing talent at every level has been part of that story. Female officials have worked at the highest levels of the game globally, and the PSRA was right to point that out.

The problem is that sacking one reserve coach, while correct, doesn't fix a wider culture issue. If a coach at that level felt comfortable saying what Higuain said, out loud, on a pitch with witnesses, then the question becomes what else goes on that nobody sees. MLS needs to treat this as a starting point for examining how officials are treated across the league, not just a box to tick by removing one bad actor.

From a pure football standpoint, the incident also raises questions about Higuain's coaching career. He played in MLS himself and had built a reputation in coaching circles after retiring. That reputation now has a very large asterisk next to it.

Our Take

Columbus Crew made the right call. Sacking Higuain was the correct and necessary outcome, even if the league's original suspension had already drawn criticism for being too lenient.

In US MLS, moments like this land in front of a wide audience and carry real weight. The league has commercial ambitions, growing fan bases and a genuine responsibility to every official who steps onto a pitch. A two-game ban was never going to cut it. A dismissal at least signals that clubs are willing to hold their own staff to a proper standard when the league falls short.

The referee at the centre of this deserved better. Every official working in professional football does.