Soccer fans were heard booing before a game when players kneeled during the national anthem.
FC Dallas and Nashville SC faced off Wednesday night in Frisco, Texas, and were met by a “smattering of boos” from fans when players knelt during the national anthem, according to the Associated Press.
“I think it was absolutely disgusting,” FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon said after the match. “You’ve got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in.”
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“You can’t even have support from your own fans in your own stadium. It’s baffling to me,” Cannon said. “As a team, we try to give the best possible product on the field, and these last six months have been absolute hell for us — absolute hell.”
The game marked the first for both teams since Major League Soccer suspended matches in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Just more than 5,000 fans were allowed in Toyota Stadium Wednesday, but it’s unclear how many booed the kneeling players.
“We had someone chanting ‘U.S.A.,’ but they don’t understand what kneeling means. They don’t understand why we’re kneeling. They can’t see the reason. They think we’re the ignorant ones,” Cannon said. “And it’s incredibly frustrating. I’m sorry to have this tone, but you have to call it for what it is.”
Cannon added that teammate Ryan Hollingshead apologized to him following the incident.
“He said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for our fans,’” Cannon recalled.
Kneeling during the national anthem before sports games has regained traction in recent months, sparked by the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
Colin Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and racism in the United States. The act has since spread across different sports leagues, including the MLB, NBA, and NHL, with many players wearing T-shirts supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
