The New York Red Bulls’ academy teams decided to pull out of the Generation Adidas (GA) Cup, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic. The players alleged an “extreme lack of action” by MLS after two separate on-field racist incidents against players on the club’s Under-17 team.
The latest of those incidents came on Thursday, when the team alleges U-17 defender Eric Tai was racially abused by a player from Croatian side Hajduk Split. Sources present at the game told The Athletic that the referee recognized the racist language and sent the player off as a result. Days earlier, U-17 goalkeeper Joshua Grant alleged he was racially abused by a CF Monterrey player.
“What has happened these past two games is completely inappropriate and has changed our team forever,” the Red Bulls U-17 players said in a statement on Thursday. “The extreme lack of action taken by the league is unacceptable and has left a feeling of untrust and uncertainty in 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.”
The Red Bulls’ U-17 team had been eliminated from the tournament in the round of 16 by Hajduk Split on Thursday, but the U-15 side had advanced to the quarterfinals. The U-15 team will not participate in Thursday’s scheduled game against French side Toulouse.
Hajduk Split is still scheduled to play in the U-17 quarterfinals. Monterrey had already been eliminated but had played another game since the incident with the club still scheduled to play a consolation game on Friday.
MLS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident involving Hajduk Split and the Red Bulls’ departure. The league’s academy circuit, MLS Next, released a statement after the first incident saying it was aware of and investigating the allegations.
The GA Cup is a premier youth soccer tournament organized by MLS, featuring all 29 MLS academies plus select others, including clubs from abroad. Manchester United, Arsenal, River Plate and Flamengo were among the international clubs to join this year along with CF Monterrey and Hajduk Split.
Tai was part of the Red Bulls U-15 team that won MLS Next Cup last year before graduating to the U-17 team this year. Grant joined the Red Bulls academy this year from Real Salt Lake. He is a Jamaica youth international.
On Thursday night, Grant posted a story on Instagram asking the league to “please do something.”
“Why do colored players like myself continue to be called monkeys by international teams?” Grant wrote. “Today the same thing happened to my teammate. Please do something.”
Grant tagged Black Players for Change as well as MLS and MLS Next Pro.
(Photo: Morgan Tencza / USA TODAY Sports)
