Refereeing Organization Admits to Blown Call Against Union

PRO confirms Okugo was onside for Daniel goal, but did it matter?

The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) - "the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada" has weighed in on the latest refereeing debacle at PPL Park. According to a report by Simon Borg, "PRO confirmed their view that (Amobi) Okugo was not offside on the play, and that the Philadelphia Union goal should have stood."

While an easy scapegoat, the blown call wasn't the be all, end all of why the Union lost. Of course it changed the complexion of the match. Of course the goal would have put the Union up - a position they've done very well this season. But thirty minutes elapsed between the incorrect call against Keon Daniel and the Union and when Ricardo Clark put Dynamo up for good. Thirty minutes for the Union to shake it off and put another one in and have it count. But opportunity after opportunity was wasted, both before and after Clark's goal.

The mark of a championship team is the ability to overcome all obstacles put in front of it, by either the other team or the officials. This team did not do that, and over the span of the past few games have not been able to do that. This is the defining moment of the season - either the Union will use this as motivation to propel them to perform as they did earlier in the season, or they'll use this as another excuse as to why it'll be a second straight year outside of the playoffs.

What do you think will happen? Leave your thoughts below.