Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) ended its inaugural season of play in Major League Soccer on November 1st against Real Salt Lake in the first round knock-out stages of the playoffs.
Many have described LAFC’s season as historical, as they produced sensational results and finished the regular season ranked 3rd in the Western conference. However, having home field advantage and hosting the 6th ranked team Real Salt Lake proved too much for the team.
In LAFC’s first ever playoff game (and home playoff game) Bob Bradley’s men lost 3-2 to what many consider an inferior team in Real Salt Lake. Home fans were quoted after the match saying the team “underestimated” Real Salt Lake and “were already thinking about the next round”.
What muddied this evening even more for the LAFC organization and especially for fans like Martin Luz, board member of LAFC’s LGBTQ Supporters group “Pride Republic”, was the homophobic slurs that blasted through television screens throughout the match.
This was the second time this season that LAFC has been criticized by fan behavior; specifically fans shouting the anti-gay slur “Puto”. On both occasions, millions tuned in on ESPN to see the exciting expansion team, led by Mexico international Carlos Vela, take to the field. Both occasions were highlighted, not by the teams’ play, but the abusive fan behavior and glaring issues that remain in Major League Soccer.
Unfortunately for Major League Soccer, we are continuing to see this same issue occur in matches, with no clear plan or proper method to combat the behavior.
After LAFC experienced this fan abuse in their inaugural match of the year, team president Tom Penn and 3252 President (main supporters group) Josef Zacher released a lengthy joint statement. The statement highlighted that the club “will not tolerate the offensive goal kick chant” and that fans caught chanting would “be removed from the stadium and permanently banned”.
I was personally over the moon to see a team president come out with such strong support of inclusivity and actions to combat this negative fan behavior. But, reports coming in after the playoff match on November 2nd have stated that even though at one point, when an estimated 80% of the stadium chanted “Puto” at one point during the match, LAFC officials removed no fans during the match.
So my question is, why make these bold statements and promise for change if you are not going to actually execute them? When does this become more than a club issue and become a league issue? When does Major League Soccer intervene and hold teams accountable? When will teams be fined and punished for poor fan behavior?
Earlier this season in the Champions League, French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais had to play a home match with an empty stadium due to fan misconduct and behavior. After a Europa League match the previous season, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body fined the French side €100,000 and determined that the next European game they host must be played without fans.
If Major League Soccer wants to be relevant and compete with the rest of the leagues in the world, it has to do so on all accounts. Not just on the competitive nature and level of players, not just on a relegation and promotion system, but also on their ethics standard and punishment basis. Too many times we are seeing teams and clubs get a pass on bad fan behavior by Major League Soccer.
Instead of actually addressing the issue, we get a 30 second promotional video of current players telling us to “respect the game” and to “not cross the line” before each match. Too bad it is played at the most inopportune time, as fans are already intoxicated by this point or it is sprinkled in the middle of all the pregame commentary.
Martin Luz has optimism for the future of LAFC and Major League Soccer. On November 2nd, Pride Republic released the following statement in reaction to the LAFC match against Real Salt Lake:
Working “shoulder to shoulder,” LAFC executives and players, the 3252, and Pride Republic eliminated offensive chanting throughout the regular season. After quick action by the team and supporter groups, the chant disappeared for 20 home games at Banc of California Stadium. That is an impressive accomplishment for our inaugural season and it’s one we are all proud of.
But even with that initial success, the team and supporter groups knew that this issue could resurface. Last night, unfortunately, it did. LAFC fans exhibited a range of unsportsmanlike behaviors, from chanting to throwing objects at the opposing team. LAFC executives reached out immediately when the chanting began, in the final few minutes of the game. They emphasized their intent to keep working on this stubborn issue, which has been a thorn in the side of the entire MLS for far too long.
We look forward to working with the team, our fellow LAFC supporters, and fellow LGBTQ supporter groups throughout the league to eliminate the chant for good in the 2019 season. And we call on the MLS to show some real leadership on this issue, beginning right now, in the post-season. Videos, talking points, and “policies” are not enough: the league must take decisive action in order to eradicate this chant permanently.
What I admire about LAFC and Pride Republic is that the two groups are working hand in hand to combat this issue. Whereas some teams do not work as well with their supporters groups or ignore abusive fan behavior, LAFC is setting a precedent on challenging these issues. Pride Republic has been blessed with a front office and organization that cares about their fans, ALL of their fans. Unfortunately, this is not the case for every team in MLS.
MLS has to take this upcoming offseason to really figure out how the league is going to handle these issues in the future. Will the league ever change and update policies and ethic standards? Or will we be talking about the same instances next year with no new strategies in place?
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