By: Martin MacMahon
Last week, the Montreal Impact announced that the Canadian Soccer Association’s disciplinary committee acquitted captain Nevio Pizzolitto "from any blameworthy act related to the match on May 4th at Empire Field."
"The committee confirmed that Nevio Pizzolitto did not deliberately spit on a spectator, following a Nutrilite Canadian Championship game."
Ashley Perry, the fan at the centre of the alleged spitting incident first reported by CSN, says he is "surprised" by the CSA's ruling and that Pizzolitto's "conduct post-incident is deeply disrespectful."
"I was fully expecting an apology because it seemed like he was going to be moving on from an unfortunate incident," Perry told CSN. "But it appears not."
"He admitted spitting, I got spat on, and there were multiple witnesses," Perry said. "It's not really that difficult to figure it out."
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Pizzolitto has given few press statements in the days since, but he did give comment to the Montreal Impact's official website.
"I have never committed an act that could have been disrespectful to the game that I love and represent," Pizzolitto stated on the website. "I am a proud competitor who respects his opponents and its fans. Never would I have wanted to be disrespectful towards a soccer fan."
Perry had two representatives at the disciplinary hearing in Ottawa, and told CSN that Pizzolitto admitted during the hearing that he did spit – but claims he did not intend to hit Perry or anyone else.
"Pizzolitto admitted spitting off the raised walkway which – there was no other place to land other than near people or on someone – that in itself should have been seen as intent.
"He admitted it, the CSA acknowledged it, multiple witnesses including security staff witnessed it, and two people within six feet of me witnessed it … everything doesn’t quite add up to a respectful end to something which is quite harmful to the Canadian game to be honest."
According to Perry, Pizzolitto claimed during the hearing that Perry was among a group of Whitecaps fans chanting "get out of here Bloc Québécois," a claim Perry denies.
"Considering he used that as a description of what happened, and then denied intent – it’s almost contradictory," Perry said.
In Perry's version of events, he was singing 'Au Revoir' along with other Whitecaps fans up at the Montreal Impact players as they crossed the walkways that leads to the player dressing rooms, following the Impact's elimination from the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. That's when Perry claims Pizzolitto looked at him before allegedly spitting in his face. Pizzolitto failed to turn up for the initial CSA disciplinary hearing in relation to the alleged spitting incident which was scheduled for June 27 in Edmonton. The Canadian international was then suspended until his acquittal at the hearing on July 11 in Ottawa.
The Impact's captain returned to play in Montreal's 1-0 loss to Minnesota on July 22nd and no further action will be taken by the CSA in relation to the alleged incident.
As for Perry, he says the alleged spitting incident -- intentional or not – won’t stop him from supporting the Whitecaps at Empire Field.
"Not much would stop me from watching football really. It’s a big part of my everyday life. It does bring into question the integrity of the CSA – that’s the only thing I’d really question – and the integrity of the Montreal Impact … but no, it’s not going to dampen my footballing spirits."
Canadian Soccer News has requested an official transcript of the disciplinary hearing from the Canadian Soccer Association.
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Martin MacMahon is a broadcast journalism student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He covers Vancouver Whitecaps FC for a number of soccer websites.
You can follow him on Twitter @martinmacmahon