Landon Donovan explains why San Diego Loyal ‘had to act’ after alleged homophobic slur was aimed at Collin Martin

Landon Donovan led his San Diego Loyal side off the pitch midway through their USL Championship match against Phoenix Rising on Wednesday after a homophobic slur was allegedly directed at Collin Martin.

The Loyal team, managed by ex-Everton and USA striker Donovan, took a knee at the start of the second half before walking off and forfeiting the match, with the incident appearing to occur in first-half stoppage time.

Martin, who came out as gay in 2018, was allegedly subjected to the slur by Junior Flemmings. The Phoenix midfielder denied this in a statement on Twitter afterwards, which finished: “I stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ movement.”

Flemmings added: “At no point did I say a homophobic slur towards Collin Martin. I do not know Collin personally, but I respect all of my opponents equally, Collin included.

“I am disappointed by San Diego’s actions this evening as I have been mauled and ridiculed online with no opportunity to defend myself.”

Donovan: We had to act

In a heated exchange Donovan could be heard explaining to Phoenix head coach Rick Schlantz “it’s homophobia” after asking an official why action had not been taken.

“We have to get this out of our game, it’s homophobic” .. – LD @PHXRisingFC Head Coach tells @landondonovan “it’s apart of Soccer”.

This is Idiotic, Ignorant, and dangerous. @SanDiegoLoyal does the right thing and walks off the field. pic.twitter.com/gmSlTqYEYE

— herculez gomez (@herculezg) October 1, 2020

The @SanDiegoLoyal took a knee as the second half kicked off, then walked off the field in support of their teammate, Collin Martin, who was called a homophobic slur.

Here is that moment: pic.twitter.com/2uWbPGq6h4

— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) October 1, 2020

Afterwards, Donovan explained why his side chose to act by walking off, having also forfeited a match last week when a racial slur was aimed at one of Loyal’s players by LA Galaxy II defender Omar Ontiveros, who was subsequently fined, given a six-match suspension and eventually released by Galaxy.

Donovan said: “We went through a really hard incident last week in the LA match and we made a vow to ourselves, to our community, to our players, to the club, to USL, that we would not stand for bigotry, homophobic slurs, things that don’t belong in our game.

We stand by what we believe in https://t.co/HHmye6ZWPr

— Sal Zizzo (@SalZizzo) October 1, 2020

Landon Donovan on why the team decided to forfeit tonight's match against Phoenix Rising FC. #SDvPHX pic.twitter.com/7BcqzZBSrV

— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) October 1, 2020

“I lost it because I know what this team has gone through. I know how hard it was for them to even take the field tonight given everything that happened, and then for it to happen again a week later was just devastating for me.

“If they’re not willing to act, then we have to act. Our guys, to their immense credit, said we were not going to stand for this.

“They were very clear in that moment that they were giving up all hopes of making the play-offs, even though they were beating one of the best teams in the league.

“They said it doesn’t matter. There are things more important in life and we have to stick up for what we believe in. I have tremendous pride in this group and this organisation.”

USL investigation under way

“We are aware of the alleged use of a homophobic slur in tonight’s match between San Diego Loyal SC and Phoenix Rising FC,” the USL said.

“Foul and abusive language of any type has absolutely no place in our society and will not be tolerated in USL matches.

“An investigation is currently underway to determine the facts surrounding the incident and more information will be provided as soon as it is available.”

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2GessNO