On 26 September, Daniela Silva was expelled from Austin FC’s match with San Diego FC for wearing a T-shirt reading “Abolish ICE”.
asserted
Silva → expel → ICE
She says she was banned from Q2 Stadium for a year (Austin FC said that the ban was issued by the Austin Police Department, not the club, and that they offered to rescind it but that Silva declined).
asserted
Silva → say → it
This happened, really, truly, and you cannot make this up, during Austin FC’s Hispanic Heritage Night.
asserted
you → happen → Night
It also happened six days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shot a Venezuelan delivery driver, 28-year-old Wilber Garcés Pérez, in the torso in Austin, sparking protests in the city.
asserted
agents → happen → city
The club’s Hispanic Heritage Night included folk dances and highlighted local nonprofits serving the Hispanic community.
asserted
Night → include → community
“For Austin FC, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month means celebrating the many cultures and communities that help make Austin what it is,” the club’s website still declares.
asserted
website → celebrate → cultures
And yet, a fan sporting a T-shirt with a very reasonable response to the ongoing assault on the Hispanic community of Austin, and indeed the nation, was banished.
asserted
fan → sport → Austin
The club referred to Major League Soccer’s fan code of conduct, which prohibits, among other things, “Displaying signs, symbols or images for commercial purposes or for electioneering, campaigning or advocating for or against any candidate, political party, legislative issue, or government action.”
asserted
which → refer → candidate
It’s the same policy MLS has cited in several other instances.
asserted
MLS → ’ → instances
That’s where Austin FC supporter groups Los Verdes and La Murga de Austin took issue, releasing a joint statement.
asserted
groups → ’ → statement
“Opposition to ICE is not an abstract political debate for many of our members and neighbors,” it read.
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it → read → members
“It is about what is happening here, in our community, and about their safety, dignity, and ability to move through it without fear.
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what → happen → fear
In the days since, members of our community have questioned whether they feel safe and welcome returning to Q2.
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they → question → Q2
That should matter to Austin FC.
asserted
That → matter → FC
The club has a responsibility to communicate clearly that our Hispanic and immigrant communities are welcome and safe at Q2.”
asserted
communities → have → Q2
At the club’s home game on Saturday, a 4-1 loss to runaway league leaders Nashville SC, La Murga de Austin walked out in protest of Silva’s ejection, clearing out much of the supporters section.
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Austin → walk → section
Its banner, reading “NO ICE IN THIS MELTING POT”, was taken down.
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banner → read → POT
“We love this club.
asserted
We → love → club
But love is not silent,” La Murga said in a statement.
asserted
Murga → say → statement
“We are asking Austin FC to speak out – publicly, with conviction – against the injustice ICE is inflicting on the communities of Austin.
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ICE → ask → Austin
The same communities the club says it supports.
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it → say → ?
The same communities whose faces fill your marketing, whose voices fill your stadium, whose hands and hearts make this place what it is.”
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it → fill → stadium
The club told the Guardian it is engaging with supporters on the topic.
asserted
it → tell → topic
It may well be that Austin FC’s hands were tied by league regulations.
uncertain
hands → tie → regulations
It’s just that those rules are unjustifiable and, in this climate, possibly even untenable.
uncertain
rules → ’ → climate
MLS has priors when it comes to these ideological confrontations with its own fans.
asserted
it → have → fans
In 2015, it ordered the removal of “Refugees welcome” banners at Toronto FC games.
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Refugees → order → games
In 2019, the league had to walk back its ban on the Iron Front symbol, first used by anti-Nazi paramilitaries in the 1930s and since broadly appropriated by the antifa movement – which has always been more of an idea than an actual organization but was nevertheless deemed to be political by the league.
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which → have → league
At the other end of the ideological spectrum, a man in a Make America Great Again hat was ejected from St Louis City’s stadium during a game last year.
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America → make → game
In the weeks after the war between Israel and Hamas began in 2023, MLS banned both Israeli and Palestinian flags in its stands as a measure it called “temporary” but which, three years on, remains in place.
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which → begin → place
A carveout exists, however, for Columbus Crew fans, who were awarded an exemption to fly a single Palestinian flag after the club signed Palestinian striker Wessam Abou Ali.
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club → exist → Ali
Fans of the teams who field the league’s eight Israeli players can fly a single Israeli flag.
asserted
who → field → flag
Meanwhile, when Latino Nashville fans stayed away from their stadium in droves for fear of ICE arrests on their way home from games, the league did permit a banner reading “We’re not all here” to note their absence.
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We → stay → absence
Herein lies the trouble.
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trouble → lie → ?
The rules feel squishy because there is no one way to coherently and consistently keep political speech out of stadiums.
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rules → feel → stadiums
The notion of apolitical sports, idealized by some as a kind of how-things-used-to-be paradigm that never existed, is a fantasy.
asserted
that → idealize → kind
MLS isn’t alone in trying to make it a reality.
asserted
it → try → ?
Most of the other American major leagues try just as hard to stay neutral in any matter that may cost them a few dollars by upsetting fans, or draw the ire of their overwhelmingly conservative owners.
uncertain
that → try → owners
Then again, few sports seem to have hardcore fans as politically engaged as those in American soccer.
asserted
fans → seem → soccer
I’d also argue that the approach is counterproductive.
asserted
approach → argue → ?
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
