Evan Bush suspended for Champions League Final, CONCACAF rejects appeal on suspension

The Montreal Impact have just announced that Evan Bush's suspension has been upheld by CONCACAF. The Ohio-native picked up a yellow card in two consecutive CONCACAF games, the last one in the first leg of the final against Club America.

The technical staff did not hide the fact that it is looking for a MLS goalkeeper to join the club on loan. Reports had Chicago Fire keeper, Sean Johnson, slotted to join the Impact on loan but it seems that it will not be happening.

With John Smits, on loan from FC Edmonton, and Maxime Crepeau (lingering shoulder injury), the Bleu-Blanc-Noir is running out of the time to find a suitable replacement for Bush, 48 hours before the biggest game in its history.

Official Press Release

The Montreal Impact announced on Monday that the suspension to goalkeeper Evan Bush for the Champions League decisive match against Club América will not be overturned.

Bush was shown a controversial yellow card in the 89th minute of the first leg of the final, last Wednesday at Estadio Azteca, a second caution for the American goalkeeper since the first game of the semifinal series, which is an automatic one-game suspension.

The Impact had immediately appealed the suspension to CONCACAF, the continental organization that organizes the tournament, but the appeal was rejected.

According to section 6.25 of the CONCACAF Champions League regulations, a decision of the referee in a match cannot be overturned following a protest.

"We believe that the card was a bad decision by the referee, but CONCACAF rules state that you can't appeal a referee decision on a yellow card unless it was given to the wrong player," said Impact technical director Adam Braz. "We continue to look at all our options for Wednesday's match."