Inter Miami players and head coach Phil Neville alleged Sunday that D.C. United forward Taxi Fountas directed a racial slur at one of their players during an MLS game between the two teams.
The incident occurred during the second half of a 3-2 Miami win, and led to a five-minute stoppage in play, during which referee Ismail Elfath initiated MLS's protocol for on-field allegations of racial abuse.
Neville said postgame that “a word was used that is unacceptable in society. It is the worst word in the world.”
Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin said that, after a confrontation between Fountas and Miami defender Damion Lowe, Fountas "called him the N-word." (Fountas, a Greek star who joined D.C. United earlier this year, is white. Lowe, a Jamaican, is Black.)
Elfath, in written responses to questions from pool reporter Pablo Maurer, said that "no official heard any racist or abusive language." An MLS spokeswoman told Yahoo Sports that a league investigation will begin promptly.
D.C. United coach Wayne Rooney, who pulled Fountas from the game almost immediately after the incident, said that "there was a complaint, which I’m sure will get investigated. Not much more I can say.”
The Taxi Fountas-Damion Lowe incident
The initial confrontation between the two players occurred late in the 59th minute. Fountas challenged Lowe for the ball as Lowe was passing back to his own goalkeeper. After he'd released the ball, Lowe appeared to raise his elbow. Fountas then pushed Lowe in the chest, and the two went chest to chest and forehead to forehead for a few seconds, presumably exchanging words.
A few seconds after that, Elfath stopped the game. He spoke with Lowe, then with the two teams' captains. He jogged over to the sideline to talk with Rooney and Neville, and appeared to explain that there'd been an allegation of racism, and that he was following the relevant protocols.
Elfath then jogged back to the field and issued yellow cards to Fountas and Lowe. After a brief discussion, Elfath asked for the ball and prepared to restart the game. A few seconds later, TV cameras flashed backed to Fountas and Lowe, and Lowe was being half-restrained, half-comforted by a teammate, and pointing at Fountas.
A few second later, Lowe appeared to be explaining to other D.C. United players that Fountas had called him a "n*****." (The ESPN+ broadcast did not capture the portion of the incident when the slur allegedly occurred.)
Yedlin and other Miami players, meanwhile, had come to the sideline. Yedlin said postgame that he told Neville that he and his teammates would not resume the game unless action was taken.
Inter Miami players would not continue with the game until something was done with Fountas. Neville and Rooney, former teammates at Manchester United in England, spoke multiple times during the minutes-long stoppage. Elfath, at one point, again jogged toward the sideline and huddled with the two coaches. Lowe walked toward the sideline in conversation with D.C. United's Ravel Morrison and Christian Benteke, both of whom are also Black.
The game ultimately resumed in the 65th minute — but only after Elfath spoke to Lowe with his arm around the player's shoulder, and only after Neville patted Rooney on the cheek as the two went back to their respective benches.
Less than a minute later, Rooney sent on a sub for Fountas, and put his arm around Fountas as the 27-year-old All-Star exited the field.
A D.C. United spokesman said in a statement two-and-a-half hours after the game that the club was "aware of the allegations involving a player during the match against Inter Miami CF. The club will work closely with Major League Soccer and Inter Miami to investigate the incident."
