Conflict of Interest Sparks Controversy : Prep soccer: Questions remain in wake of playoff result that was nullified by the Southern Section.

One week after the Southern Section forced a soccer playoff game between Santa Barbara San Marcos and Long Beach Millikan to be replayed because of an apparent conflict of interest, some questions remain unanswered.

Why was this 3-A Division second-round game first officiated by a member of the Millikan faculty? Was it coincidence that two San Marcos players and an assistant coach were thrown out of the first game, which Millikan won? Who knew about this situation, and was the apparent conflict brought up before the game?

Few of those involved are talking, but several facts are known.

On Feb. 20, Millikan played host to and defeated San Marcos, 3-2, but its victory was nullified when it was discovered that referee Charles McKay, one of two officials who had worked the first match, is a long-term substitute teacher at Millikan.

San Marcos won the rematch ordered by the Southern Section, played at Santa Barbara High on Feb. 22, 3-2, but lost in the quarterfinals to La Canada St. Francis, 4-3, in overtime on Saturday.

McKay, who assigns officials to playoff games in the area, and Millikan Coach Rod Petkovic both denied charges of collusion in a hearing with the Southern Section the day after the game.

McKay claimed that he decided to officiate the game only when two officials he had assigned did not show up.

The Southern Section said, however, that the officials were never contacted by McKay and released this statement: “The first playoff game was declared no contest because it was determined that there was conflict of interest involved with a referee employed by the Long Beach School District.”

McKay, a respected international official in the United States, was also removed as the assignment official in the Long Beach area and was replaced by Gary Thompson, who had assigned officials during the regular season.

Any further action against McKay will be taken by the Southern California Soccer Officials Assn., which will meet at a later date, according to Karen Hellyer, a Southern Section administrator in charge of soccer officials.

Neither McKay nor Petkovic returned calls made by The Times, but Millikan Principal Wendol Murray denied that there had been collusion.

“What Petkovic and McKay are guilty of is naivete, not collusion,” Murray said. “I have to believe my coach (Petkovic) when he said he clearly presented McKay to the San Marcos coach before the game and said that one official did not show and if they wanted McKay, who is a respected official and also a Millikan substitute teacher, to do the game.

“(Petkovic) then said that the San Marcos coach said, ‘Let’s play the game.’ I have done further investigating and I have found out that they were just naive to think that the game could be played with an official employed on the Millikan faculty.”

San Marcos Coach Abe Jahadhmy said that he was never approached by Petkovic with that choice.

“I was not aware that (McKay) was a teacher at Millikan,” Jahadhmy said. “If I knew that, I would have never played the game. It was only after the game did I realize that he did.”

Jahadhmy also said that McKay dominated his officiating partner Jesus Galarza, who was contacted by McKay to work as a fill-in shortly before the game.

“One thing that stands out is that McKay stayed on our end of play for the entire game,” said Jahadhmy, who is in his third year of coaching at San Marcos. “Normally, officials do not switch sides at halftime, but McKay did, and when he was first asked, he said that the sun was in his eyes.

“When I asked the other referee, he told me that McKay told him that he wanted to keep an eye on us and that (McKay) was the head ref and he can do whatever he wanted to do.”

In the rematch, San Marcos took a 3-0 lead and then turned to backup junior varsity players before Millikan rallied and scored two late goals. Jahadhmy said that Millikan played better in its loss than it had in the first meeting.

Murray said no action has been taken against Petkovic or McKay.

“I am waiting to hear from . . . CIF Commissioner Stan Thomas on what (the Southern Section will) suggest,” Murray said. “I feel that McKay’s action was done by an official working for the (Southern Section) and not as a Millikan employee. I do not think that we should take the rap for this.”

The Southern Section said Wednesday that the matter is closed.