TUKWILA — It has been more than a month since Marco Pappa started a game for the Seattle Sounders, so his unavailability again this week isn’t a new lineup challenge.
However, the reasons for this absence are new: arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence, and an MLS-mandated substance-abuse program.
Pappa didn’t train with his teammates Tuesday at Starfire Sports Complex, and the reason for that was one of several topics general manager Garth Lagerwey said he wasn’t free to discuss.
“Part of any collective bargaining agreement, these things are negotiated with the union,” Lagerwey said. “And I think the fairest way to answer that is to say that there are a couple of parties involved.”
Referring to the situation as “an ongoing legal matter,” Lagerwey was reluctant to add detail beyond what the club already had announced through a press release: Pappa had been arrested Sunday for investigation of DUI and speeding, and that he is ineligible to play until the league completes an investigation and Pappa completes an assessment by the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program.
C.J. Sapong of the Philadelphia Union went through the program earlier this season and returned to league play about three weeks after the initial incident. However, neither Lagerwey nor coach Sigi Schmid would estimate of how long Pappa might be out.
Both implied the Sounders expect to be without him for their next match, Saturday at Montreal.
“We haven’t had him for the last couple of weeks, so it really doesn’t change much of anything,” Schmid said.
However, Schmid acknowledged that the circumstances of this absence is different from any injury or Pappa’s recent duty with the Guatemala national team.
“He’s a teammate and we need to support him,” he said. “I think all of us individually have probably known somebody or had somebody that maybe we’re even related to that’s gone through something like this, or a difficult situation like this. Right now he needs our support to come through this at the other end as a stronger person.”
Added time
Schmid estimated that goalkeeper Stefan Frei (shoulder) went through 75 percent of training Tuesday and forward Obafemi Martins (leg) about 60 percent. He didn’t estimate their likelihood of playing this weekend. … The USA national team will play two more games in CONCACAF Golf Cup: a semifinal match against Jamaica at 3 p.m. Wednesday followed by either the third-place match Saturday or the championship final Sunday. Clint Dempsey’s first obligation afterward will be the MLS All-Star Game on July 28 in Colorado. Schmid made no projection of how Dempsey and Brad Evans will be worked back into the Seattle lineup, but he noted that Dempsey “is logging a lot of minutes” without a lot of rest. … The Sounders clarified that forward Vic Mansaray originally was named to the MLS homegrown-player game that is part of next week’s All-Star festivities, but that he was kept off the game-day roster due to injury. However, Lagerwey added, “our academy needs to improve; we need better players in our academy.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
