Bridgeview, Ill. » Coach Jason Kreis knew he was going to have to watch Real Salt Lake's game against the Chicago Fire on Saturday from the press box, serving the one-game suspension that accompanied his red-card ejection from its previous game.

But Major League Soccer wasn't finished with him.

On the eve of RSL's 1-0 loss to the Fire at Toyota Park, the league announced it had suspended Kreis for an additional game. Kreis will miss the next game at home against Seattle next weekend, and they fined him another $3,000, in addition to the automatic $500 fine for a red card. That's three times the amount the league fined the Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham for confronting a fan in the stands during a game last month.

"The way it was explained to me, it was because it was caught on television, it made it a more public issue than perhaps I knew it was or thought it was," Kreis said.

League officials declined comment on the penalty, except to say in a statement that Kreis was sanctioned "for his verbal confrontation with the officiating crew."

Kreis had complained profanely to the fourth official about the call that awarded FC Dallas a penalty kick in the 71st minute of a tie game at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 24. Goalkeeper Nick Rimando ultimately saved the kick, but Kreis was sent off two minutes later, before RSL finished rallying for a 4-2 victory.

It was the fourth time since Kreis became coach early in the 2007 season that he had been suspended, for a total of six games and $7,000 in fines. All of the incidents have involved criticizing the referees, either in public or during a game, and the fines have escalated each time.

"It's also an issue that they're trying to get ahold of and crack down on a little bit -- bench behavior -- right now," he added. "So I think a little bit of it is timing, as well."

Ironically, Kreis was among the coaches who lobbied in the offseason to change the rules about suspended coaches - prohibiting them from entering the locker room or maintaining radio contact with their sidelines during games. Assistant coach Robin Fraser guided the team from the sideline against the Fire, in his place.