Wayne Rooney and Phil Neville had to deal with a racism storm after an ugly clash between two of their players in Major League Soccer on Sunday night.
Play was held up for several minutes during Sunday’s encounter between Rooney’s DC United and Neville’s Inter Miami at Audi Field in Washington. United's Greek international forward Taxi Fountas was accused of racially abusing Damion Lowe during an altercation between the pair in the second half.
Rooney and opposite number Neville, former Manchester United and England teammates, were both summoned to talk to referee Ismail Elfath after tensions boiled over on the pitch. Neville discussed whether his players should leave the field during the four-minute stoppage, but eventually continued with Rooney substituting Fountas almost immediately.
“There was a racist comment that was unacceptable,” said Neville in his post-match press conference. “A word was used that I think is unacceptable in society. I think it’s the worst word in the world.
“There is no place at all for racism on a football field or society.
“I must commend my players for keeping their calm, I must commend the referee – (in) a really difficult situation he followed the protocols set out by the MLS – and I must give massive, massive respect to Wayne Rooney for dealing with it in the way that he did.
“I have always known him as a class act and today he went up in my estimation more than he has ever done, more than any goal he has ever scored.”
The alleged incident occurred in the 59th minute as Fountas, who had scored moments earlier, got involved in a scuffle with Lowe and the situation escalated. The matter is being investigated by MLS.
A spokesman told ESPN: “MLS has zero tolerance for abusive and offensive language and we take these allegations very seriously. An investigation into this matter will begin promptly.”
A DC United statement added: “DC United are aware of the allegations involving a player during the match against Inter Miami CF. The club will work closely with Major League Soccer and Inter Miami to investigate the incident.”
Referee Elfath is quoted as saying that neither he nor any of the on-field officials heard a racial slur being used, while the incident was also checked by VAR.
Miami went on to win the match 3-2 with a late goal from Gonzalo Higuain.
“Unfortunately, it makes a really nice moment for us kind of dark,” Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin said. “We continued the game and came out with a win, but the end of the day, like I said, it doesn’t even feel like like a win, just because of that incredibly dark moment.”
According to Yedlin, Fountas used the slur while walking away from Lowe after a dispute, and within earshot of Miami’s Aimé Mabika. Both Lowe and Mabika are black.
“Basically, Damion and their player got into a little bit of a scuffle," said Yedlin. "As Damion was walking away, their guy called him the N-word.
“(Mabika) reacted, and M.A. is one of the nicest guys so, when you see him react in the way that he did, you know it’s probably something pretty serious. It’s something that hit him pretty hard. And as soon as I heard what he said, I got pretty emotional as well.”
