Sports
Anti-Gay Chant Casts Pall Over LAFC's First Game At New Stadium
LAFC fans chanted a homophobic slur at LAFC's inaugural home game, prompting the club to warn that fans will be kicked out next time.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A day after anti-gay chants echoed in the Los Angeles Football Club's home stadium, the team announced Monday that fans who chant slurs will be ejected from Banc of California Stadium and have their season tickets revoked.
"Offensive" chants accompanied goal kicks by Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei, in Sunday's 1-0 Los Angeles victory, the team said.
"The offensive goal kick chant is wrong and not what we are about," said LAFC President and owner Tom Penn. He was joined in that statement by Josef Zacher, president of The 3252 Independent Supporters Union, a fan club in the standing-room section of the new stadium.
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"We ask that all of our fans and supporters work to hold each other accountable to eliminate this from Banc of California Stadium," they said.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who attended the game, issued a warning to LAFC.
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"It shouldn't happen, and it will stop," Garber told the Los Angeles Times. "We are not just concerned about it. It defies everything we stand for. I've spoken to ownership during the game. They get it. And I have real confidence that it'll stop."
City News Service; LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 29: Carlos Vela #10 makes the first touch in the inaugural home game against the Seattle Sounders at Banc of California Stadium on April 29, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)