Major League Soccer handed down a six-game suspension to New England Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones Friday for making contact with a referee in an Oct. 28 match against D.C. United. The suspension may cause Jones to miss team USA qualifying matches in March.
The MLS players union appealed the suspension on Jones' behalf, but upon reviewing the appeal, MLS commissioner Don Garber will uphold the suspension, according to MLS Soccer. The suspension stems from an incident in which Jones made contact with referee Mark Geiger.
With New England trailing 2-1 in the second half of a playoff game against D.C. United, Geiger failed to award a penalty to the Revolution. Jones received a yellow card for dissent and proceeded to make contact with Geiger several times before and after receiving a red card. A red card is an automatic one-game suspension; Jones will miss the first six matches of the MLS season.
The American international signed with New England as a designated player in 2014. However, Jones' deal is set to expire at the end of the year. Kyle McCarthy said that Jones is open to staying in the MLS, but he has received offers in Europe. FIFA will require any league to uphold Jones' suspension and will not allow Jones to play for the American national team until his full suspension has been served.
If Jones were to sign in a league outside of the MLS, which begins play earlier in the year he could potentially be available to the American National team for World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala on March 25 and 29.
Born in Germany to an American father, Jones joined team USA in 2010. Jones, 34, has appeared for team USA 56 times, most notably in the 2014 World Cup against Portugal, where he scored the equalizing goal in a 2-2 draw.
Jones also confirmed he has received offers from Europe and Brazil, but he also noted he is open to staying in #MLS. #USMNT
— Kyle McCarthy (@kylejmccarthy) October 30, 2015
