

Commissioner Don Garber (Associated Press)



Bruce Arena (LA Galaxy photo)

MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the league’s most successful coach, Bruce Arena, are not going to lunch anytime soon.

Arena confirmed this morning that Garber fined him for comments he made to the Insider last month, the second penalty levied by the league boss on the always outspoken Los Angeles Galaxy coach-general manager in the past year.

Arena said he received an email from Garber’s office concerning the fine and then read about it in a Sports Illustrated story posted by Grant Wahl on Tuesday. No one from the league contacted him directly, he said. Arena declined to specify the amount of the fine.

Asked for his reaction to the fine and Garber’s comments, Arena said: “Until I receive legal advice on the matter, I will have no further comment.”

Arena has retained an attorney to handle the case.

Garber fined Arena for criticizing the league about its handling of Sacha Kljestan, the U.S. midfielder who was on the verge of joining the Galaxy from Anderlecht in Belgium before MLS’s international transfer window closed in early August. The deal was apparently nixed by MLS after the Galaxy had agreed to a series of transactions in order to acquire Kljestan.

In an interview with the Insider last month, Arena said “forces within the league worked real hard to make sure that didn’t happen.” He has declined, then and now, to go into specifics.

Arena also said of the league last month: “They are children, and there have to be adults in the process, and we didn’t have enough of them. I think we are back into the old days in the league where the rules are somewhat arbitrary.”

In his interview with SI, Garber said Kljestan “wanted to come to MLS and play for six months and live in Los Angeles so that he could then go back to Anderlecht. We are not going to sign a six-month contract with any player, whether Bruce Arena wants us to or not. His comments were false and inappropriate and will be dealt with … It will be a major fine.”

The veracity of Garber’s statement could not be independently verified. However, it’s not uncommon for MLS clubs to acquire players on short-term deals with an option to purchase the contract when the initial agreement expires.

Last year, Garber fined Arena an undisclosed amount for mild criticism of the league during an interview with the Insider. The league also fined him $2,000 last summer for comments made about officiating after a match.

Arena and the Galaxy are unbeaten in seven straight matches (5-0-2) and sit three points behind the Seattle Sounders in both the Western Conference and Supporters’ Shield races. Los Angeles will host FC Dallas on Saturday night at StubHub Center.