Nouhou suspended two games, fined for throwing ball at fan

Nouhou has officially been suspended one additional game for throwing a ball at a fan and fined for an “inappropriate gesture” toward the referee in Saturday’s game against Sporting KC. That means he will miss tonight’s game against the Colorado Rapids and Saturday’s match against the San Jose Earthquakes. Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer told KJR on Tuesday that the fine was expected to be $2,500 for seemingly repeating the gesture Nouhou said a fan made toward him, which prompted him to throw the ball.

“He’s gotta grow up, he can’t do stuff like that and he hurt the team,” Schmetzer said during the radio interview. “I won’t tolerate it. That wasn’t a very proud moment for us.”

While Nouhou will be eligible to return to the field for the Sounders’ away game against Atlanta United on July 26, it’s not clear if he’ll actually be re-inserted into the lineup. Schmetzer hinted at the possibility of some additional, team-imposed punishment during his KJR interview.

This is not Nouhou’s first lapse in judgement, either off the field or on it. He has now been red-carded in two of his past three MLS appearances; picked up a yellow card for an off-ball shoving match in the Botafogo game that led to a goal; and he had an own-goal earlier this year that was seemingly unforced. Last year, he was unofficially suspended for a game for a locker-room outburst after being pulled from a game earlier than he would have liked.