MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath said Tuesday that he and his club are "very, very strong behind our player" accused of directing a racial slur at Portland Timbers star Diego Chara on Saturday in Portland.
Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese started his post-game media conference after his team's game against the Loons with an emotional, nearly two-minute address on what he termed a "racist situation, a racial discriminatory word" that he called "not acceptable." He didn't name the Loons player or the word or phrase used.
Major League Soccer opened an investigation Sunday morning.
Heath spoke briefly on the matter after Minnesota United's training session Tuesday in Blaine.
"A couple things really important to say: The record of this club since I've been here for inclusivity and diversity has been first class," Heath said. "It's something we don't take lightly. We spoke to the player. The player vehemently denies he said anything, so we will believe what the player tells us and obviously there's an investigation going on. We're cooperating 100 percent with everything that we know and that has been said."
Minnesota United veteran midfielder Wil Trapp was in the middle of a three-minute game delay soon after an incident that involved Chara and new Loons midfielder Franco Fragapane.
Chara kicked toward and collided with Fragapane from behind while Fragapane used his chest to control a ball and knocked him to the turf.
Chara, Timbers captain Diego Valeri, Trapp, Loons captain Michael Boxall and referee Rosendo Mendoza conferred on the field. Savarese later criticized Mendoza for taking no action and not handling the situation better.
"We were trying to get an understanding what happened and even more so, can it be corroborated, right?" Trapp said. "That was the biggest thing. Rosendo, the referee, didn't hear it. I didn't hear it. Valeri didn't hear it and Chara was coming to us to explain what happened. It's a situation in which it's hard to know exactly the circumstances and what was said, right? So I know there's an investigation going on. For us, it's difficult to make any assumptions."
Loons midfielder Jacori Hayes, a member of the league's Black Players for Change, was asked what if the investigation concludes the allegations are true.
"It'd be troubling, something we'd have to handle internally for sure," said Hayes, who did not play Saturday. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I hope not. Yeah, we'll just see what happens."
Heath said he asked other Loons players what they heard, or did not hear.
"We've been through all that and nobody has heard anything," Heath said. "The referee didn't hear anything, so we'll see. ... It's picked up a life of its own since. We'll let the powers that be sort it out."
