MLS investigating alleged racial slur used during Timbers-MNUFC match

This past Saturday, the Portland Timbers played a match against Minnesota United FC, losing 1-0 in the sweltering heat of Providence Park. From a soccer perspective, it was a disappointing result after Portland put together a second half where multiple opportunities presented itself.

But the loss was far from the most disappointing thing to happen on Saturday. After the match, Timbers head coach didn’t talk much about tactics or the formation changes throughout the match. Instead, he focused on a terrible incident on the pitch that has no place anywhere.

During the middle of the second half, the match came to a halt. It was unclear at the time what had happened, just that Diego Chara was clearly upset by something. What Savarese revealed at the press conference was that a racial slur had been directed at Chara during the game.

“I’m extremely disappointed that still at this time we have to deal with (these) current situations in a game, and the referee should have handled that situation in a much better way,” Savarese said. “We all support Diego Chara, but what happened to him today, the discriminatory word that was said to him, should not have a place anywhere.”

Major League Soccer and Minnesota United have both launched investigations into the matter, with MLS releasing a statement yesterday saying there is “zero tolerance for abusive and offensive language and we take these allegations very seriously.” Here’s the full statement:

MNUFC stated that they support any investigation and that they are club that “does not tolerate discrimination under any circumstance.” Here is their full statement: