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Craig Harrington accused of verbal abuse during match against Monterrey

América Femenil coach Craig Harrington was shown a red card and accused of verbally abusing opposing players in loss to Rayadas.

By Eugene Rupinski
Craig Harrington, head coach of America reacts during a match between America and Cruz Azul as part of the Torneo Grita Mexico A21 Liga MX Femenil at Estadio Azteca on October 4, 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images

In what should have been a marquee match up between two of Liga MX Femenil’s biggest and best teams, the attention has unfortunately shifted from the play on the pitch to the behavior of someone pitch side. During the 61st minute of last night’s match between América and Rayadas, play was stopped after Scarlett Camberos had been booked for a foul when seemingly out of nowhere América Femenil manager Craig Harrington was shown a red card. América lost the match 2-0 and in the post game press conference Monterrey manager Eva Espejo accused Harrington of verbally assaulting Monterrey players.

You can catch the original version of Espejo’s press conference here:

And video of incident was posted later from a feed of the match.

As of the time of publishing, there hasn’t been any audio of what Harrington said released, however AR Carolina Briones was standing right next to him during the incident, nodding her head as referee Lizzett García showed Harrington the red card. Also as of the time of publishing, the league hasn’t released a formal statement addressing the issue, however they did release the following on the league’s official Twitter account:

Espejo was right to stick up for her players during the press conference and demand the Disciplinary Committee conduct an inquiry. This is not the first time Harrington has been accused of abusive behavior. Prior to his arrival at América, he was dismissed by the Utah Royals of the NWSL and after his dismissal allegations surfaced that he created a work environment that was described as “toxic” and “inhumane” among other things.

The outrage over Harrington’s behavior was visible on social media from all sides, with fans of Monterrey and América expressing their disgust. As of the time of publishing, Club América has not released a statement addressing the issue. Harrington is guaranteed to miss the next match against Atlético San Luis due solely to the red card, however whether or not he’ll miss any more is dependent on the findings of the disciplinary committee.

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