Flamengo out amid MLS youth Cup abuse probe

Flamengo’s Under-17 team has withdrawn from the GA Cup, and will not participate in Sunday’s third place match, MLS NEXT announced on Sunday.

A league source tells ESPN that Flamengo made the decision to withdraw from the tournament following its contentious semifinal against the Philadelphia Union. After the match, which the Union won 2-0, tournament organizers MLS NEXT said it would launch an investigation following accusations that both teams engaged in misconduct that violated tournament rules, including the use of discriminatory language.

Rather than await the results of the investigation, Flamengo informed MLS NEXT that it wouldn’t participate in Sunday’s third place match.

In a statement on Sunday, Flamengo said the club “strongly repudiates what happened on Saturday, in Bradenton, in the Generation Adidas Cup U-17 semifinals, when some athletes from our squad were victims of racial insults. It’s unacceptable that episodes like this happens. Racism is a crime and must be harshly punished.

“After what happened, the club filed a formal representation to MLS reporting the case and will not compete for third place. There’s no place for situations like this or any type of prejudice, specially in sports initiation, when children and adolescents are becoming adults.”

Later on Sunday, MLS NEXT released a statement in which it said that its investigation had been completed, and that it had “issued suspensions in accordance with the MLS NEXT Disciplinary Code to individuals of both clubs for violating the MLS NEXT Safety and Wellbeing policy. Due to the minors’ age, further details regarding the individuals will not be discussed.”

Sources with knowledge of the investigation told ESPN that the allegations of discriminatory language by Philadelphia Union players against their Flamengo counterparts couldn’t be corroborated, but that a Union player was suspended for escalating the situation.

The suspensions and Flamengo’s withdrawal come in the wake of several other instances of players from other teams using discriminatory language at the GA Cup — a youth tournament run by MLS NEXT, the MLS-run youth organization. In addition to involving teams from MLS clubs, it also includes teams from Mexico, Europe and South America.

The previous incidents led the New York Red Bulls to withdraw both their U15 and U17 teams from the GA Cup, though the latter team had already been eliminated. MLS Next is the subsidiary of MLS that runs its youth competitions, including the GA Cup.

A league source told ESPN that during the match a Flamengo player was sent off for receiving two yellow cards, and that was followed by a Flamengo assistant coach getting red carded at half-time for verbal abuse towards a referee, though in this case it wasn’t for using a banned term.

After the match, a Flamengo player was red carded after allegedly directing discriminatory language towards the referee. Another Flamengo player did the same, though he wasn’t sanctioned.

MLS already has protocols in place for its league matches to handle cases where discriminatory language is used on the field, though those do not mirror exactly the protocol that is in place for matches run by MLS NEXT. A review of that protocol by MLS NEXT is under way.

In a previous statement, MLS Next said it “is deeply concerned and upset by the recent incidents of on-field abuse of players during several games at the GA Cup this week. This behavior is entirely unacceptable, violates the rules of the competition, and our collective effort to ensure a respectful and inclusive environment for all.

“Following any allegations, trained professional staff offer and provide immediate resources to all involved.”

Sources tell 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.