Both Major League Soccer and FC Dallas released statements late Thursday in support of Dallas defender Reggie Cannon, after the player was the recipient of what FCD characterized as “racist remarks and death threats.”
– Fans boo players taking knees in Dallas-Nashville
The Dallas statement, attributed to owners Dan and Clark Hunt, read in part: “We want to be clear: We love and support Reggie Cannon. The racist remarks and death threats he received are reprehensible and unacceptable.”
– FC Dallas (@FCDallas) August 14, 2020
Minutes earlier, MLS commissioner Don Garber published a statement of his own with similar sentiments.
– Don Garber (@thesoccerdon) August 14, 2020
The statements are the final chapter in what has become an escalating situation following Wednesday’s game between FC Dallas and Nashville SC. During the national anthem, both teams chose to kneel in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, which followed similar gestures by players and teams during the just-concluded MLS Back Tournament, just outside Orlando, Florida.
In Wednesday’s copy, the sentinel was met with some anger at a match attended by fans while one person threw a bottle on the field. According to a spokesman for FC Dallas, the perpetrator was removed from the stadium.
After the game, Cannon was interviewed and expressed his displeasure over the response from some fans, describing it as “absolutely disgusting.” He added, “You can not even have the support of your own fans in your own stadium. It’s absolutely baffling to me.”
After initially announcing that the team would not comment on Cannon’s reaction, Dallas finally released a statement that read in part, “FC Dallas supports our players and fans in their right to themselves in a peaceful manner to express. “
Meanwhile, Cannon began receiving hateful and threatening statements on social media, resulting in the statement from MLS and later from the Hunts.
Cannon is a member of the recently formed Black Players Coalition, an organization consisting of more than 70 Black players in MLS. Formed in June, the organization’s goal is to address racial inequalities in MLS and positively impact the Black communities in the U.S. and Canada.
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