The New York Red Bulls withdrew from the Generation Adidas Cup (GA Cup) youth tournamentafter some of their footballers assured having suffered racist insults by players from rival teams.
“The New York Red Bulls have decided to withdraw from the under-15 and under-17 tournaments. There is no place for discrimination around competitive gaming. As an organization, we support our players on and off the field of play,” the New York team said this Friday in a brief statement.
For its part, MLS NEXT, organizer of this tournament, assured that, after “three accusations of discriminatory language” in two GA Cup matches, investigated and suspended those players whose identity was not revealed because they were minors.
“MLS NEXT remains steadfast in its commitment to eradicate discriminatory and racial incidents at all levels of this sport,” he indicated in a press release.
According to The Athletic portal, the Red Bulls maintain that Eric Tai, defender of the under-17 team, received a racist insult from a player from Hajduk Split in Croatia. That footballer was expelled from the match by the referee.
Days before, Joshua Grant, goalkeeper of the under-17 team, claimed to have suffered a racist insult from a soccer player from Monterrey in Mexico.
The Red Bulls under-17 team was eliminated after the defeat against Hajduk Split but the under-15 team had to play the quarterfinals against Toulouse but did not play that match.
“What has happened in these two games is completely inappropriate and has changed our team forever”said the players of the under-17 team in a statement collected by The Athletic and the ESPN network.
“The extreme lack of action by the league is unacceptable and leaves a feeling of distrust and uncertainty about our safety and well-being when we play (…). We hope this situation brings to light this persistent problem in football and in our world“they added.
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