The Professional Referee Organization (PRO), which handles the training and assigning of referees in MLS and the USL, told ESPN that it would be re-evaluating the processes about what constitutes a referee's connection with a club.
The statement was made in the wake of Instagram posts of referee Tim Ford and his family attending an LAFC match, with PRO adding that Ford won't be sanctioned for attending the match.
Ford's on-field performances came under renewed scrutiny following last weekend's match between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Vancouver Whitecaps. In that match, Ford sent off Vancouver defender Edier Ocampo for what he deemed to be two yellow card offenses. Ford also called a contentious penalty on Caps' defender Tristan Blackmon, which was converted by San Jose's Josef Martinez. San Jose won the match 2-1.
"Everybody who watched the game saw a man slip and one man saw a penalty," Vancouver manager Jesper Sorensen told reporters after the match. "That's how it is. Luckily we play with VAR, so they saw it differently and then it was still a penalty."
After the match, photos of Ford and his family attending LAFC matches, some of which took place in 2018, soon emerged on social media from the Instagram account of Ford's wife. The account has since been made private.
On Tuesday, MLS rescinded the mandatory one-game suspension and fine that Ocampo would have been hit with for picking up a second yellow card in the match against San Jose.
Ford was at the center of another refereeing controversy in 2023 during a playoff series between the Caps and LAFC. In Game 2 of that series, Ford awarded LAFC a penalty -- converted by Dennis Bouanga -- and later sent off then-Vancouver manager Vanni Sartini in a 1-0 win for LAFC that clinched the series.
Sartini labeled Ford's performance "disgraceful" and made a joke saying he'd be a suspect if Ford was found dead following the match. Sartini was later suspended six games and fined $20,000 for his comments.
One Instagram post from 2023 detailed how Ford's children got to meet LAFC players after Game 1 of that series.
Reached by text message, PRO told ESPN that Ford wouldn't be sanctioned because an examination of the photos concluded that Ford wasn't wearing LAFC merchandise. The spokesperson did add however that some processes would be reviewed.
"We are re-evaluating our processes about what constitutes a connection with a club," the spokesperson told ESPN.
Vancouver's record in matches involving Ford is 3-3-3 (W-L-D). LAFC's record in matches refereed by Ford is 3-2-2.