New York Red Bulls withdraw from youth cup over racist abuse

The New York Red Bulls withdrew two of its youth teams from an MLS-run youth tournament in Florida on Thursday following allegations of multiple incidents of racial abuse being directed at their players, the team confirmed to ESPN.

The Red Bulls players also alleged that MLS failed to provide adequate support to the victims in the aftermath of the incidents.

In an Instagram post made on behalf of the Red Bulls’ U17 players, midfielder Adri Mehmeti posted: “What has happened these past two games is completely inappropriate and has changed our team forever. The extreme lack of action taken by the league is unacceptable and has left a feeling of untrust and uncertainty in the hands of our safety and well-being while playing in this event and our games back home. We hope this situation will bring light to an ongoing problem in the game of football and in our world. Thank you.”

The Generation Adidas (GA) Cup is a youth tournament run by MLS Next, the MLS-run youth organization. In addition to involving teams from MLS clubs, the event at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, also includes teams from Mexico, Europe and South America.

In a statement, MLS NEXT said that a total of three allegations of discriminatory language took over place over the course of two matches.

“MLS NEXT immediately investigated and then issued suspensions in accordance with the MLS NEXT Disciplinary Code to the offending individuals for violating the MLS NEXT Safety & Wellbeing Policy,” the MLS Next statement read, in part. “In addition, MLS NEXT immediately made resources available onsite to the affected players and clubs.”

The Red Bulls issued a statement confirming the decision to remove their teams from the tournament.

“There is no room for discrimination around competitive play,” the team said. “As an organization, we stand together with our players on and off the pitch.”

The first incident took place in a match against Mexico’s CF Monterrey on Monday in which Red Bulls’ U17 goalkeeper Joshua Grant alleged he was racially abused. Because that incident took place out of earshot of an official, it was subsequently reported to the match official by a Red Bulls coach, resulting in an investigation by MLS Next, sources on the ground at the tournament told ESPN.

Monterrey subsequently suspended the alleged perpetrator. In that same match, a Red Bulls player was sent off for use of a banned term, sources on the ground confirmed.

The second incident came Thursday, when Red Bulls U17 defender Eric Tai alleged he was abused by a player from Croatian side Hajduk Split. On this occasion, the perpetrator was sent off because the referee understood what was directed at Tai.

Sources told ESPN that international teams were briefed prior to the tournament on what constituted banned or discriminatory words. One such briefing took place in a one-on-one setting between an MLS Next representative and an international team, as well as a later meeting where at least one representative of each team — both international and domestic — was present alongside MLS Next representatives.

Sources also confirmed that a policy is in place for how such on-field incidents of racial abuse should be handled, though at the time of the incidents at the GA Cup, that policy didn’t exactly mirror what has been implemented at first-team level in MLS.

In the original MLS Next policy, referees weren’t required to stop matches due to an instance of on-field abuse, though they could. That policy has now been modified so that for the remainder of the GA Cup, referees will be required to stop matches if banned terms or discriminatory language is used. A full review of the anti-discrimination policy at MLS NEXT level is also set to take place following the tournament.