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The incident occurred in the meeting between San Diego and Phoenix in the USL of the US second division on Wednesday night local time. San Diego, which needed to win to have a playoff shot, led the game 3-1 when a fight broke out late in the first half. So a player must have expressed himself homophobically towards openly gay Collin Martin in San Diego.
Landon Donovan, former star of the US national team and now owner and coach of the San Diego Loyal, tried to talk to rival referees and coaches about the incident. video tag as published by Sportscenter.
Landon Donovan, owner and coach of the San Diego Loyal, says racism and homophobia have no place in soccer. Stock Photography.
Photo: Gregory Bull / AP / TT
Because neither the judge nor Opponents chose to choose between the player Donovan and San Diego felt had expressed himself homophobically, the team chose to leave the field. Victory and playoff spot went to Phoenix. in a interview With his own club, Donovan explains the action:
– We’ve been through a lot in the last week. I understand that those who see it from the outside do not understand it, but we have lived in the middle of it. We had an incident in the last game against Los Angeles. We promised ourselves, and the league, that we would not accept fanaticism, homophobia or things that do not belong to football.
Donovan says that following the incident at the Los Angeles meeting, where a player is said to have been the target of racist attacks, the club promised to act according to the motto “I will act, I will speak” and that he regrets that they have not taken a clearer position already. there. and so.
– I know what this team has been through, I know how difficult it was even to play tonight with everything that happened and that when this happens again it leaves me completely overwhelmed, says Donovan who points out that he is “extremely proud” of his team.
San Diego Players Choice to leave the plan In protest, she is honored by, among others, Megan Rapino, a United States national team player on the women’s side and named the best player at the World Cup last year. in a twitter posts she writes:
“This is how (racism and homophobia) deal with it. You see something? Say something. Point. We need more of this energy! Very proud and grateful for what Landon and that organization have done. “
Jason Collins, former NBA pro and openly gay, celebrates also the shares of Donovan and San Diego. the do too Caroline Jönsson, former goalkeeper of the national team and now a member of the board of directors of the international football union (Fifpro).
Jönsson writes on Twitter that she and many others are tired of “this belongs in the shit of the game” and that what Landon Donovan and his team did is what can lead to change.
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