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Brek Shea’s red card against Toronto FC turned the tide in an otherwise dreary encounter. Saturday’s MLS game was 0-0 when the big winger uttered some choice words towards the referee.

He’d just been cautioned for a heavy foul, but his response drew pause from the referee, who then went to a second yellow straight red for dissent.

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Shea was off. The Whitecaps lost their shape.

The team wasn’t pleased in the aftermath, given the turnaround.

But the referee’s response shouldn’t have been a surprise, argue Major League Soccer’s referees.

In a post published Wednesday on the official site of the Professional Referees Organization, training and development manager Paul Rejer stated flatly, “during our preseason preparations, officials were instructed not to allow dissent.”

Officials from MLS and PRO visited with every team in the league during pre-season “to explain the points of emphasis and to reinforce that dissent would not be tolerated,” he added.

Brek Shea’s sending off last Saturday was listed as a primary example of this new point of emphasis.