Allegations Of Racial Slur Used By New York Red Bulls Player Follow Patterns

When allegations of a New York Red Bulls player toward a member of the San Jose Earthquakes emerged after Saturday’s 1-1 draw, they not only soured a Major League Soccer matchday, but also followed several patterns that surfaced in such incidents.

This is the third such allegation leveled toward a player — in this case presumed to be Red Bulls forward Dante Vanzeir — in as many seasons. The first came in a 2021 game when Minnesota United’s Franco Fragapane was accused of verbal abuse toward the Portland Timbers’ Diego Chara. The second was against D.C. United’s Taxi Fountas in a match last September.

And while the final responsibility for using any racist or otherwise intolerant language rests on the person using it, the similarities of this episode to those previous may also suggest there is something institutional going wrong.

This is not to say MLS is in any way to encourage racist behavior. But there may be flaws in the implementation of their anti-racism policies.

Here’s a look at the similarities and their implications.

Foreign Player, First Year

The most obvious similarities between the episodes was that all three players accused were foreign nationals playing in their first MLS seasons.

The Argentine Fragapane’s alleged incident came in his third regular season game and only a week after his MLS debut. Fountas, a Greek international, was 21 games into his MLS career before his incident ended his season. And on Sunday, the Belgian Vanzeir was in his sixth MLS game.

Why does it matter? There’s two components to this.

The first is cross-cultural, that it’s possible there needs to be more targeted anti-racism education to players entering from other countries. Sadly racism among fans and players is no stranger across the soccer world, and in some nations is far more tolerated culturally.

The second is that all of these players had an abbreviated or total lack of a preseason with their clubs. That’s generally when players complete the league’s mandatory anti-racism educational course. According to the league, players who arrive after preseason are required to complete the training their first match and no later than seven days following their first training session. But according to reporting during 2021 from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, that requirement — like many other league policies — appears to be under the oversight of individual clubs, with clubs subject to fines if they are found not to follow those procedures.

These educational programs don’t suddenly make previously racist people not have racist thoughts or feelings. But they should make clear the serious consequences of voicing those sentiments in MLS and hopefully prevent Black players from receiving abuse. While we don’t know if the accused players completed these programs in a timely fashion, but if they haven’t, that’s a problem the league needs to solve.

Foreign Players Also Targeted

So much of Americans’ discussion surrounding the rights of Black people and Black players is centered on the American Black population. But in each of the three previous incidents discussed, it appears the players allegedly targeted were born elsewhere. Chara is Colombian. Miami’s Damion Lowe is a Jamaican international. And while it’s unclear who may have been the target on San Jose, they also weren’t American. Striker Jeremy Ebobisse is the only American Black player who was on the field for the Quakes at the time, and in his postgame remarks he said he was confident the words weren’t directed toward him.

Why it matters: This could be partly coincidental. According to FBref.com, Brazil, France, Venezuela, Colombia and Ghana are among the 10 most-common player nationalities within the league, and Black players commonly come from all of those nations. However, it’s also possible that foreign players could be targeted for other reasons, or possibly even the case that there is a belief among some that foreign players would shrug off such insults in a way Black American players might not.

None of this condones any racist or otherwise abusive language potentially used toward anyone. But perhaps it is critical information in shaping how MLS attempts to prevent these incidents in the future.

Veterans Do The Talking

In the latter two cases, the accusing team has had a Black American veteran player address the media following the game. With Miami, it was United States two-time World Cup veteran DeAndre Yedlin. For San Jose, it was striker Jeremy Ebobisse, who was listed as a board member when the MLS advocacy group Black Players for Change was founded in 2020.

Why it matters: Firstly, it shows that Black players who levy these allegations are very concerned about being trusted. Ebobisse and Yedlin are two of the more recognizable faces of the league given their longevity and ongoing relations with the media. Ebobisse even alluded to this feeling of pressure during his remarks on Saturday night.

Additionally, it also suggests an organized, deliberate and perhaps premeditated preparation for such incidents when they occur. It’s worth noting all these episodes have happened since Black Players for Change formed. The deliberateness of response to them suggests there have been similar concerns for many years before that were not made public.

No On-Field Resolution

In Apple TV’s MLS Wrap Up show late Saturday night, officiating expert Christina Unkel described the protocol referees follow during such incidents, including how they determine whether the allegations can be confirmed on the field. As Unkel explained, the referees not only have the ears of all four officials at their disposal, but also any video and audio review evidence from the league’s video review protocol. And yet despite having those tools available, none of the three incidents were able to end with any conclusion on the field.

In the previous two, follow-up investigations by Major League Soccer found that the allegations came in good faith, but that they lacked sufficient evidence to confirm or deny their truthfulness and thus impose any sanctions on players or club.

Why It Matters: If the investigation that follows this incident leads to the same inconclusive place as the others, the protocols themselves may be flawed and need restructuring. Just how that might lead to a better outcome is admittedly unclear, though. It’s unrealistic — and likely problematic — to require every player to wear a field mic.

At the very least, the apparent low likelihood that the process will lead to a resolution needs to be communicated. That could lead to players involved taking other actions, either deciding not to lodge complaints or to go further and decide to abandon matches when such incidents occur. Instead, we may be in for a third progression through the cycle: allegations are made, the public hopes for clear evidence, the investigation finds no evidence, no conclusions are gone and no larger actions are taken by the aggrieved party.