Soul Face Three-Player Suspension

* Chicago’s Tijani Ayegbusi is suspended for the remainder of the 2012-13 season, including the playoffs.
* Chicago’s Carlos Muñoz is suspended for one game (February 22 at Missouri).
* Chicago’s Fred Degand is suspended for one game (February 22 at Missouri).

Ayegbusi and Muñoz were penalized after entering the stands following the game to engage in a dispute. Meanwhile, Degand’s suspension was a result of accumulating three cards in a single game. All three players will miss Friday’s match against the Missouri Comets, and Ayegbusi will go on to miss the rest of the regular season and postseason.

Soul Owner and CEO David Mokry issued the following statement regarding Monday night’s incident that led to the suspensions:

“On behalf of the Chicago Soul organization, I would like to apologize to the fans and public for the actions and behaviors of our players during Monday night’s game. It was unfortunate that Tijani had to endure racial slurs throughout the game, but he also realizes that there are lines that cannot be crossed and is very apologetic for his reaction. We realize that our players cannot follow with wrongful actions no matter the circumstance, and we have taken disciplinary actions internally to ensure that our players understand that this is a serious matter that cannot occur again. With that said, we hope to have the continual support from our fans as we approach the home stretch of the season and make a push for playoffs.”

The Soul will head to Missouri on Friday to take on the Comets, who are currently in third place in league standings. The squad will then return home on Wednesday, February 27 to host the Comets at the Sears Centre Arena.