Orlando City, Head Coach Adrian Heath Fined by MLS for Tampering Violation

Major League Soccer came down on Orlando City SC and manager Adrian Heath on Friday afternoon following a violation of the league's tampering policy.

The club was fined an undisclosed amount for the violation, and Heath was also fined an undisclosed amount for his role after he publicly expressed interest in Sporting Kansas City striker Dom Dwyer earlier this week.

The violation occurred during Heath's weekly call-in show on Tuesday night, when a fan asked whether or not the club was working to bring back Dwyer, a former loanee for the Lions from SKC in 2013. Heath responded with an answer that, while honest, placed OCSC in violation of league rules.

“If we ring Kansas City one more time, we’re going to get reported to the league from [SKC head coach] Peter Vermes,” Heath said. “There’s no secret that Dom wants to be here. We’ve tried to get him here. We’ve done everything we can. Unfortunately we can’t do it yet. I think this is his spiritual home. He wants to come back and we’d love to have him.”

Heath was asked about his comments following Friday's training session, where he said that he had not meant to offend anyone and that he would issue an apology to Vermes and Sporting Kansas City, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

"I'll try to reach out to Peter today, I'll apologize," Heath said. "There was no disrespect meant. In hindsight, looking back at the quotes, they could be misconstrued a different way, but there was no thought on my part of trying to antagonize or make the situation better or worse. I just answered an honest question with an honest answer. But hey, I will reach out to them, and as I say, if I offended anybody I apologize."

Dwyer scored 15 goals for the Lions in his 13-game stint with the club back in 2013. Orlando will host Sporting KC at the Citrus Bowl this season on Sept. 13.

Orlando City fans aren't happy about the punishment and have started to help Heath pay his fine.