Kenny Mansally suspended by MLS

Abdoulie Mansally

The MLS Disciplinary Committee has suspended Gambia international Abdoulie ‘Kenny’ Mansally one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for violent conduct against DC United on March 9, the league announced.

When Real Salt Lake’s Abdoulie Mansally delivered a Zinedine Zidane-like headbutt to DC United midfielder Perry Kitchen after a scuffle during the clubs’ match last Saturday, it seemed like a matter of time until the MLS Disciplinary Committee weighed in.

That ruling came down on Thursday when Kenny Mansally was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount for “violent conduct” when he “used his head to strike DC United midfielder Perry Kitchen” in the 61st minute in his team’s 1-0 loss.

The Gambian will now be suspended for Real Salt Lake’s home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday against Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado Rapids.

Meanwhile, Kenny Mansally has announced that he is dropping his long time nickname and will now go by his given first name of Abdoulie in the United States.

Mansally had been called Kenny for years, picking up the nickname in Gambia and going by it throughout his MLS career – which began in 2007 at New England Revolution. He revealed on Wednesday that he made the switch back to his given first name in order to remind people of who he is and where he came from [Gambia].