Los Angeles Football Club condemn homophobic chant heard at game
The club has said the slur goes against everything they stand for
By Steve Brown
Los Angeles Football Club and Major League Soccer have condemned some of their fans who chanted an anti-gay slur during their game against the Seattle Sounders.
During the game, a portion of the team’s fan club – known as the 3252 Independent Supporters – starting “puto” whenever the opposing goalkeeper Stefan Frei lined up a free kick.
Although it can have different meanings, the slur is roughly the Spanish equivalent of f*****.
MLS commissioner Don Garber told The Los Angeles Times: “We are not just concerned about it.
“It defies everything we stand for.”
LAFC owner Tom Penn, former NBA executive, issued a joint statement with the president of the 3252 Independent Supporters Union and said anyone caught repeating the chant will have their membership revoked.
The statement read: “The offensive goal kick chant is wrong and not what we are about. We ask that all of our fans and Supporters work to hold each other accountable to eliminate this from Banc of California Stadium.”
Jim Buzinski, co-found of the LGBT athletic magazine Outsports, address the issue and said there needs to be “zero tolerance” when it comes to homophobic chants.
He wrote: “This is a bad look for LAFC, which plays in a city where LGBT people are part of the social fabric fanbase.
“There has to be a zero tolerance and members of the 3252 section and fans everywhere in the stadium need to police their ranks, identify any offenders and have them ejected and not allowed back.
“This nonsense has got to stop.”
The fan club also took to Twitter to condemn the chant and so did another fan club District 9 Ultras.
The District 9 Ultras and @LAFC3252 have a zero tolerance standard in regard to derogatory chants. If you are caught joining any chant that is derogatory, you will be immediately disaffiliated from the D9U, and we will ensure your @LAFC membership rights are revoked. pic.twitter.com/WgwMAeax4Q
— District 9 Ultras (@district9ultras) April 30, 2018