At training today, Sounders minority owner Adrian Hanauer made a formal statement on the events at Starfire this week.
Sounders received three red cards and fans threw objects on to the pitch. Clint Dempsey grabbed the referee’s notebook and tore it up.
Here is Hanauer’s statement in full as reported in the Seattle Times:
“I just wanted to address Tuesday evening. I know there’s been a lot of chatter about it on the interwebs.
“We’re an extremely proud organization. Right below our logo, there are three words that say passion, courage and community. We believe that we embody those three words and that everything we do is a positive reflection on them.
“Tuesday evening, the passion piece maybe went a little bit overboard and was maybe directed in the wrong ways. That goes for players, coaches, staff, fans.
“But it all starts with me. I run this organization and, while leading it, maybe I need to look in the mirror and see if there’s something that I need to do to maybe think about things different and get the best out of the people in the organization.
“The Open Cup is a tournament we take very seriously. No one can argue that the Sounders have possibly put the Open Cup back on the map for U.S. Soccer. So the passion comes out. We wanted to win that game Tuesday night. We wanted (S2) to win in Salt Lake City. I think that the passion may have been misappropriated – from players, coaches, fans and staff.
“Now, we need to regroup. We’ve had lots of internal conversations. We will do whatever we need to collect information on fan misconduct and dole out appropriate punishments if those are necessary. We’ll deal with all of the rest internally.
“But I thought it was important to acknowledge that it wasn’t our proudest moment as the Sounders organization and we’re going to do better. We know that people are looking to the Sounders as the bellwether franchise in North America and we always need to be at the top of our game.”
Related:
USSF Release: Hearing into Starfire events to be held next week
Hinton Unleashed on US Open Cup fracas: ‘You can’t mess with referees’
Match Report: Dempsey tears referee a new one but Timbers advance in USOC
Analysis: Injuries not referee cost Sounders cup tie
