Columbus Crew sack reserve-team coach Federico Higuain after referee incident
Columbus Crew have dismissed reserve-team coach Federico Higuain after he told a female referee "Don't forget this is a man's game", with the club acting days after his red card and two-match suspension.
Published 23 Sept 20262 min read
Crew act after referee incident
Columbus Crew have sacked Federico Higuain, the coach of their reserve team, after an incident in which the Argentine told a female referee "Don't forget this is a man's game" while refusing to release her from a handshake. The club announced the dismissal on Tuesday, ending the association of one of the most decorated players in franchise history with the organisation.
Higuain, the younger brother of former Argentina and Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, had already been sanctioned for the incident before the club took further action. He received a red card and a two-match suspension from the league, but the club concluded that the disciplinary measures did not go far enough and terminated his role with the reserve side.
Federico Higuain in Columbus Crew colours (Getty Images embed)A club legend's tenure cut short
The decision closes a chapter that had looked like a feel-good story. Higuain starred for the Crew across a long MLS career, became a fan favourite in Columbus, and had moved into coaching with the club's development squad, a natural bridge from his playing days. The handshake incident and the words that accompanied it have instead ended that second act abruptly.
For the reserve team, the coaching vacancy arrives at a delicate point of the MLS Next Pro calendar, and the club will need to move quickly to install an interim and then a permanent successor. Players on the fringe of the first-team squad will feel the change most: a new coach means a fresh audition for minutes and, potentially, a different development pathway for the club's academy graduates.
What happens next
Columbus' first-team ambitions continue unaffected on the pitch, but the episode is a reputational one the club moved fast to contain. The speed of the dismissal, coming so soon after the league's own suspension, signals that the organisation treated the conduct as incompatible with its values rather than as a disciplinary matter to be managed internally.
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