First step is admission

As is famously said in 12 step programs

We admitted we were powerless ...

MLS has done just that, they admitted that Weyland had a bad day.

"He is an experienced referee who didn't have his best day," MLS executive vice president Todd Durbin said of Weyland in a statement. "As we saw in the recent UEFA Champions League semifinals [a controversial draw between Chelsea and Barcelona], referees in soccer will always come under scrutiny because their decisions can have significant impact on the game. But that is a function of the sport, not our league. It happens throughout the world."

Durbin added: "If a referee is not performing well, U.S. Soccer has, and will, remove that official from future MLS matches."

This is a solid step by the league. Weyland has a history. John Carver was fined for his criticism of Weyland after a poor game against FC Dallas, as well as the SuperClassico where 31 fouls were called. Oddly, though Weyland gives out more cards, and calls more fouls, many around the league think that the problem isn't that he calls them, but when they are called. After about a half hour Weyland seems to try and regain control of matches that he has lost.

General Manager Adrian Hanauer brings up a great point about the refereeing and the need for changes in the game.

"It's bad for the game when people think that there's too much embellishment, that the refs are too much involved, when the fans don't understand why these injustices appear to occur," Hanauer said. "In every other sport in this country there are more officials, more review of plays, less severe punishments handed out for more severe infractions of the rules."

Hanauer said with respect for the laws of the game and working with FIFA, "when a guy like Kasey Keller {vs. Kansas City] sits out an extra game for a play like questionably handling the ball intentionally out of the box, and another player gets an extra game for elbowing someone in the head [Fredy Montero vs. Chicago] or a significant punch or an extremely violent tackle, it just seems that the laws aren't very well calibrated for the fans. So that's just an area of concern for me."

It seems that MLS will likely have to make some changes. These changes will likely center around video review of calls and non-calls, an extension of the policy that lead Jamie Moreno to getting a one match suspension for a foul that was never called.

But what all MLS fans must realize is that officiating in every league is always questioned. It will never be perfect, probably never be good. I'm not just talking about the Champions League SemiFinal, but this weekend the Dallas Mavericks lost a game because a referee refused to call an obvious foul. We Seattle fans saw a Super Bowl that was lost due to poor refereeing. Every sport, every league has these same issues.

The key is how they are addressed and what is done to improve the situation, and to rectify injustices.

That first step is admitting that there is a problem, MLS at least got that right.