clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Report: Romeo Parkes gets worldwide FIFA ban for kicking New York Red Bulls' Karl Ouimette

The final word on the "cheap shot heard around the world"?

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Valeriano Di Domenico/Getty Images

Back in May, Romeo Parkes briefly made himself, Karl Ouimette, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and NYRB II famous for all the wrong reasons. One moment of madness saw the Jamaican striker slam a cleated foot into Ouimette's back - and within hours it was (per the Telegraph's Bob Williams) "the cheap shot heard around the world."

There were swift consequences of his loss of temper, control and any sense of concern for the well-being of a fellow player: Parkes was cut by his club (Pittsburgh Riverhounds), banned by the league (USL), and roundly chastised from all corners of the internet.

New York Red Bulls and Canada defender Ouimette recovered fully from the assault and is currently on loan to Jacksonville Armada in NASL. Parkes returned to Isidro Metapan, the Salvadoran club with whom he won two league titles before his ill-fated move to the USA.

But the repercussions of the kick that felled Karl Ouimette are ongoing. On Friday, July 8, Jamaican outlet RJR reported the Jamaica Football Federation had been notified by FIFA that Parkes is suspended from all soccer that the sport's global governing body has authority over. Until October 23, 2016.

The ban can be appealed, though it appears neither egregious (Parkes will miss the first two or three months of most seasons around the world - hardly career-ending) nor unjustified. The evidence against Parkes is clear and unambiguous:

The suspension does throw a wrench in Isidro Metapan's plan to sign Parkes for the coming season, but the club's initial reaction appears to be that it is willing to wait.