MLS Commissioner ‘Strongly Disagrees’ With Comments Made By Dell Loy Hansen

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Major League Soccer Commissioner, Don Garber, has released a statement regarding the remarks made by Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen this morning on a local radio station.

Statement from MLS Commissioner Don Garber pic.twitter.com/JLY0rffi8U

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) August 27, 2020

“I strongly disagree with the comments he made today and the way they were expressed. They do not reflect the views of MLS,” Garber says in his statement.

Dell Loy Hansen’s Comments

Hansen expressed his disappointment surrounding the decision by the players from both RSL and LAFC to cancel the fixture scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 26th.

“The disrespect was profound to me, personally,” Hansen said. “They (the players) clearly supported national issues, but it’s very apparent that they didn’t support our local community,” he added.

Hansen would continue expressing his disappointment and even threatened to not invest in the team in the future.

“It’s taken a lot of wind out of my sails on how much I want to invest in the team.”

DLH – "it's taken a lot of wind out of my sails on how much I want to invest in the team – buying players and building the team." #RSL

WOW.

— Jake (@bjakesimons) August 27, 2020

Later in the day, Hansen would appear on another radio station in which he owns where he would “sincerely apologize” for his actions and statements made earlier that day. He would fight back tears when doing so.

“I’d like to take a minute to after pondering, you know, the sides to the question and sincerely apologize to all being felt or heard or believed that I personally do not see the profound purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement, I do,” Hansen said.

He would then continue to list a number of reasons as to why and how he has impacted the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Attorney General’s, I pass out hundreds of copies of The New Jim Crow to emphasize the importance of judicial reform to emphasize getting rid of apartment rentals that take people who have had a felony conviction out of housing.”