Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore escapes longer ban for role in tunnel melee
TORONTO — Twelve days and two review panels after striker Jozy Altidore’s red card for violent conduct, Toronto FC is back where it started from.
Which is without the burly U.S. international forward for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final in Columbus on Tuesday.
Coach Greg Vanney said Friday that the MLS disciplinary committee had opted against extending Altidore’s mandatory one-game ban for violent conduct arising from the halftime tunnel melee during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the New York Red Bull on Nov. 5.
Red Bulls captain Sacha Kljestan, the other half of the tunnel rough-housing equation, was also ejected for violent conduct.