Columbus fires Crew 2 manager following incident with female referee

The Columbus Crew dismissed Crew 2 head coach Federico Higuaín on Tuesday following an incident with a female referee on Aug. 23. During the match, Higuaín strongly gripped the referee's hand, refused to release it, and said, "Don't forget, this is a man's game." He received a red card and initially served a two-game suspension alongside mandated restorative practices.

Crew general manager Issa Tall stated that Higuaín failed to meet the club's leadership standards. The dismissal followed a public statement from the referees' union calling the initial two-game ban insufficient, as well as an internal review finding Higuaín unwilling to take accountability or publicly apologize.