Utah Royals Investigate Racist, Homophobic Fan Incident
Sep 10, 2019, 12:31 PM | Updated: 12:35 pm
Photo courtesy: Real Salt Lake
SANDY, Utah – The Utah Royals are investigating an incident that occurred during last Friday’s match against the Portland Thorns at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The club released a statement on Monday evening stating “there were public reports of racist and homophobic comments coming from a fan in attendance.”
Security responded immediately, swarming the section that the supposed slurs were coming from. However, “the individual could not be identified by anyone in the section and the obscene language stopped for the remainder of the match,” according to the club’s statement.
The Royals are continuing their efforts to find the individual. They have been unable to do so thus far. The investigation is ongoing.
In response to the incident, the Utah Royals released a video on social media, where club captain Becky Sauerbrunn makes a public plea to stop such obscene behavior.
Racist and homophobic language is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Full club statement: https://t.co/jttxYwYhjX pic.twitter.com/SemR87Xp5a
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) September 10, 2019
“I, my teammates and this club stand against bigotry,” Sauerbrunn said.
If you hear homophobic or racist comments in future games at Rio Tinto Stadium, you are encouraged to contact stadium personnel on the fan text line at (801) 996-4042.
