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Opinion: Dante Vanzeir Punishment Shows There’s Still Too Much Tolerance of Intolerance

These incidents are too frequent, showing that our clubs, our league, and our sport can and should be doing more.

Published

1 year ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

For as long as sporting contests are played by human beings, sports will always serve as a microcosm of society. As racism, oppression, and hate speech have no place in any civilized society, it has no place in sports, and yet we continue to see incidents of it both domestically and abroad. We (the royal “we,” that is) simply tolerate intolerant behavior far too often.

Whether this behavior is truly on the rise, if those who exhibit this behavior are being emboldened to do so lately by something, or if a refusal to put up with it any longer is simply leading to it being called out more often — or if it’s a combination of these things — is a matter for a much deeper study than this post will provide. The bottom line is that such ugly behavior is still being carried onto the pitch and it needs to stop. The vast majority of us are at least rational enough to know it needs to stop, and we want it to stop, but it isn’t stopping and those in a position to stop it or at least reduce its frequency are simply not doing so.

Major League Soccer recently had an opportunity to send a message about the use of such behavior on the pitch, but chose to send the wrong one. Last weekend’s match between the San Jose Earthquakes and New York Red Bulls went through a lengthy delay in the second half, when San Jose striker Jeremy Ebobisse, who is Black, said that a Red Bulls player — striker Dante Vanzeir, as it turned out — used a racial slur. Some pushing and shoving among the team’s players ensued, and referee Ismir Pekmic spent quite awhile gathering information.

During that time, it appeared that Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel was informing manager Gerhard Struber what had taken place. Struber opted not to remove Vanzeir from the match. Vanzeir was shown milling about, smiling sheepishly. It’s impossible for people who weren’t on the pitch to know what information was being conveyed, so there was no proof that Struber was aware of exactly what took place, but the video didn’t paint him in the best light with the way things turned out.

The in-game investigation at Red Bull Arena by Pekmic also wasn’t immediately apparent to those in the stands, nor to fans around the league, and a photo of fourth official Chris Penso holding up a sign with more than 20 minutes of stoppage time went viral on social media. It’s simply not normal to see so much stoppage time tacked on. New York’s Tom Barlow scored in the 17th minute of injury time, and the game finished tied at 1-1.

News of why the match was stopped for so long eventually spread, and Vanzeir’s and Struber’s actions fell under intense scrutiny. Vanzeir reportedly owned up to saying something offensive, and the club announced soon after that the forward had “stepped away” from the team so as to avoid creating distractions. On Thursday, Vanzeir was suspended for six games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Soccer.

As a minor addendum, Vanzeir also may not play in the U.S. Open Cup, exhibition games or in MLS NEXT Pro matches during his suspension, and he must participate in training and education sessions. MLS purports to have “zero tolerance” for racist behavior on its pitch and in its stands, yet this punishment shows that the league has at least some tolerance for it.

As is usually the case, money is a central factor in this situation. MLS rosters are largely constructed around a small number of talented and expensive players the league calls “Designated Players.” Vanzeir is one of those and, as such, is a major investment by the club’s ownership. Kicking him out of the league or suspending the forward for the rest of the season would indeed send a stronger message, and one more in line with an actual policy of zero tolerance, but it would also likely have a competitive impact on both the Red Bulls and the Eastern Conference.

It would take time for New York to find and secure the services of a roster replacement. On-field results could impact attendance. Jobs could be lost both on the technical side and in other areas. I’m not unsympathetic to the club or its fans, but if this kind of behavior isn’t dealt with in a stronger manner, what is the incentive for teams to improve their vetting process when recruiting potential players? What serves as a deterrent for the next incident?

As for Red Bulls fans, many of them have recognized that there is an issue bigger than soccer at play. The supporters groups have been vocal proponents of harsher punishment for Vanzeir, even though it could hurt their team on the field. Empire SC immediately denounced the punishment as insufficient.

Vikings Army SC issued a statement that its members intend to walk out in protest at tonight’s match.

The South Ward issued a strong statement as well, calling for harsher punishment of Vanzeir and the dismissal of Struber, who was not punished by MLS. The South Ward also pointed the finger at the club for not doing more.

It is commendable to see fans put the need for social change above the success of their sports team. It’s also a shame that such actions are still necessary in this day and age.

Unlike the messaging from fans, the messaging that came out of this week from those in positions to do something was unacceptable on all counts. The league released a statement saying, “MLS has zero tolerance for abusive and offensive language and takes these allegations seriously.”

As mentioned above, six games looks a lot more like tolerance at a level much higher than zero. If the league truly wants to stamp out such behavior, it needs to do more than mandate some training and force a player to sit out for a few games. Similarly, if the league fails to act strongly enough, there is no reason why its member clubs can’t hold its employees accountable at a higher standard than MLS does.

Vanzeir’s statement Monday said: “I will do everything I can to be part of the change that needs to happen in this sport and our world. I also want to apologize to my teammates, coaches, the organization and our fans. I made a mistake and will take all the necessary steps to grow. While I did not intend to cause any harm or offense with my language, I know that I did and for that I am deeply sorry.”

This seems disingenuous when you consider that hate speech, by its very nature, is intended to cause harm or offense. There is no purpose for using it outside of inflicting harm/offense toward someone. None. While Vanzeir is Belgian and therefore a language barrier may exist to some extent, MLS mandates training for all players that should clearly indicate what is and is not permissible and this includes languages other than English.

Racist behavior, or sexism, or discrimination against others for sexuality, age, physical impairment, or any other reason may never be fully eradicated, but societal intolerance of it can be achieved. That requires widespread buy-in, regardless of monetary or time considerations.

The Vanzeir incident could happen anywhere and it has happened in many places, including other MLS cities. It could affect any club. As such, I reached out to Orlando City to inquire about what the league’s exact mandates are in terms of training players/staff on offensive language and what the club is doing. The club referred me to the league offices rather than get into specifics about what MLS and/or the NWSL require, however, an OCSC spokesman did respond with some insight as to what takes place at Orlando City SC, stating the club’s standards exceed what is required by the league(s).

“Each season, our club holds anti-harassment training and, as part of that, all players and all club staff (front office and technical) are given training on prohibited speech — across a number of languages — by our in-house and outside counsel. For us, this is something we are really proud of as it goes beyond what is required by either league, and we feel we are setting the standard for across MLS and NWSL. Overall, we’ve increased our investment in a number of trainings across the club, which again, all go beyond what is required by the leagues, but something we feel is very important in developing the best culture and expectations for our players and our staff members.”

I had also hoped to gain some insight as to whether there is some vetting process when the club is considering signing players, because that is important. After all, the club’s athletes and personnel will spend a great deal of time inside Exploria Stadium, a venue that includes 49 colored seats in a rainbow pattern. Those seats are in remembrance of the victims of the 2016 terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub leveled at the LGBTQ community — a tragedy with effects that still ripple through our city.

In the history of sport, there have always been clubs that put more (or less) emphasis on the character of their players than others. The way soccer operates worldwide, and often on conflicting schedules, makes it difficult to perform due diligence to ascertain players’ attitudes, beliefs, and values. While I’m sure that some vetting takes place, it’s difficult to know the extent of that without more transparency.

It’s going to take the global soccer village to eliminate — or at least greatly reduce — these kinds of incidents. It’s certainly going to require leagues and clubs to deal with them more harshly. Beyond that, it’s going to take the entire global community to eliminate such behavior in society.

Progress has been made in many places but there’s still a long way to go. Even the lengthiest journey can be a worthwhile one.

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Opinion

Predicting Orlando City’s April Results

Let’s peek into the crystal ball and take a crack at predicting Orlando City’s games during the month of April.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

April 5, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Every Major League Soccer schedule has its peaks and valleys, and Orlando City is currently traversing one of the valleys. After a fast and furious start to the year that saw the Lions competing in both the Concacaf Champions Cup and MLS play, OCSC won’t play another game until next Saturday, April 13. Since we’ve got a bit of time on our hands, I wanted to take a crack at predicting the outcomes of the three games that Orlando will play during the month of April. Away we go.

Saturday, April 13 — at D.C. United

The first game back following a two-week break sees the Lions travel to the nation’s capital to take on D.C. United. D.C. has been quite the bogey team for Orlando the last two seasons, frequently getting the better of the Lions despite being one of the league’s worst teams during that time. At the time of this writing, D.C. is eighth in the East with a record of 2-1-3 (9 points). The two wins came against Montreal, which has been decent so far, and New England, which has been absolutely woeful. Christian Benteke has four goals in four games, with three of them coming in the 3-1 victory over the Revs. The Lions will be coming off two weeks to work out some of the offensive kinks we’ve seen up to this point in the season, and they should have everyone available for selection after injuries and international call-ups thinned the ranks. Now seems like as good a time as any for OCSC to turn around its recent form against DCU, and I’ll pick the Lions in this one.

Prediction: Orlando City 2-1 D.C. United.

Saturday, April 20 — at CF Montreal

After D.C., the Lions will stay on the road and take on CF Montreal north of the border in a rematch of the season opener. As previously mentioned, Montreal has had a decent start to 2024 and is currently 2-2-1 (7 points) and in 10th place. In early March the Canadian club posted back-to-back wins against FC Dallas, which has been very poor so far, and Inter Miami, which has been pretty good. Matias Coccaro leads them with three goals in five games, with an assist thrown in as well. This is Orlando nemesis Josef Martinez’s first year on the team, and he’s got a goal and two assists in 249 minutes of play. The first time the two teams played this season it was a sloppy, scoreless affair, and one in which both teams may have felt they should have been victorious. I think it’ll be a pretty evenly matched affair once again, albeit one that’s higher scoring.

Prediction: Orlando City 2-2 CF Montreal.

Saturday, April 27 — vs. Toronto FC

OCSC rounds off the month of April with a visit from Toronto FC. Thus far, Toronto has been much improved from a woeful 2023 season, and is currently an aesthetically pleasing 3-2-1, (10 points) and sitting in fifth. The three wins have come against Atlanta United, which has been good, Charlotte FC which has been decent, and New England, which — as previously mentioned — has been quite bad. The Reds dropped games to New York City FC and Sporting Kansas City, and the prevailing theme in their matches this year has been struggling to put the ball in the back of the net. TFC has only scored multiple goals once, in its 2-0 win over Atlanta, and its six goals on the year is just one better than Orlando City’s tally of five. The team also has a lengthy injury list, and Lorenzo Insigne may not be available due to a hamstring injury. I think playing at home helps see the Lions through in this one, as the boys find their shooting boots.

Prediction: Orlando City 3-1 Toronto FC.

If things go as I predicted, Orlando will take seven points from an available nine, which would be a welcome sight after a sputtering start to 2024. Much of my predictions are based on the belief that this is a good team with good players, which simply needs a bit of time to integrate new faces and new ideas, and will start playing more in line with preseason expectations once it’s had time to do so. If chemistry is still slow to form after the two-week layoff, then the month of April could be a very different story, but for now I’m choosing the path of optimism. Vamos Orlando!

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Opinion

International Duty Provides Facundo Torres an Opportunity for Reset

Orlando City needs its Uruguayan star to find his best form.

Published

4 weeks ago

on

March 30, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City closes out the month of March against Eastern Conference foes the New York Red Bulls tonight in Central Florida. For one of the first times this season, the Lions will look to take the pitch with a seemingly healthy and rested lineup. Orlando demonstrated what it was capable of last time out with a full week of training under its belt with a complete 2-0 victory against Austin FC.

The victory could be considered even more impressive due to the fact that it was achieved without six regular starters, five of whom were away representing their home nations and Cesar Araujo, who missed the match due to injury. Araujo’s availability at this time still is unknown but it is reasonable to expect that the remaining players who were away over the last week and a half will return to their usual slots in the starting 11.

March results came in like a lamb and are hopefully going to finish like a lion in terms of victories for Orlando City. The same can be said for Designated Player Facundo Torres. Now in his third season with Orlando, I feel like right about this time every year I have written an article about the team needing more from Torres. And then, every year Torres has responded in a big way throughout the late spring and early summer.

Zero goals and zero assists over three MLS matches is certainly not the start that Torres expected to begin the year, nor is it the type of start that Orlando could afford to bury behind other players’ efforts as the entire offensive unit has struggled to find its footing out of the gate. On the season thus far, Torres is completing 80.5% of his passes and has registered only a lone shot attempt on target on two total scoring attempts. He did manage three goals and an assist in Concacaf Champions Cup play, so the offense is there, it just hasn’t found its way into MLS matches yet.

For Orlando to climb its way back up the table, Torres has to reach the gear that everyone knows he is capable of now. Not the middle of June, or early July, but right now.

Torres is no stranger to slow starts in MLS play, but even by his standards 2024 has been sluggish so far. In 2022, his first year in the league, Torres managed one assist and five shot attempts (none on target) through his first three MLS matches. A year ago, El Cuervo scored one goal on five shots, putting just the one on target. So he’s a few shots and a goal contribution behind his usual pace, despite contributing offensively in Concacaf play.

After a short stint with the Uruguay Men’s National Team, Torres’ time to be the catalyst that Orlando City needs has arrived. The good news for Facu and Orlando City fans is that the Red Bulls are a squad against which Torres has historically preformed very strongly. The attacking winger scored three goals against the Red Bulls in 2023 alone.

I believe that Torres benefited from a short break away from the squad and will start to turn the corner soon. I will excitedly and expectantly be on the lookout for Torres to regain his form tonight and hopefully that will help elevate all of his teammates.

Is there anyone else who you think benefited from the early season international period? Let us know in the comments below and as always, vamos Orlando!

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Opinion

Strong Early Season Competition an Opportunity for Growth

Schedule congestion and tough opponents present opportunities for growth.

Published

2 months ago

on

March 3, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

It is hard to imagine a more intense start to the season than the Lions have faced competing in both the regular season and the Concacaf Champions Cup at the same time, yet that is exactly the task that the boys in purple find themselves dealing with only days into the season. With both away and home matches already in the books, let’s examine how strong early season competition can be a key factor in the growth of the squad as the season progresses.

For comparison we can look back to one year ago, as thanks to winning the U.S. Open Cup, the Lions found themselves in the Concacaf Champions League for the first time in club history. During their short foray in the 2023 version of the competition, they were matched up against Mexican powerhouse Tigres UANL in a two-leg competition. Orlando did something that many MLS sides can not boast by coming out of the first leg in Mexico without conceding a goal and only failed to advance because of the competition’s away goals rule.

At the time, and even looking back through rose-colored glasses, those two performances demonstrated the quality that Orlando City was ultimately capable of, and it was a form which Orlando showcased in the later stretches of the 2023 season.

This year, once again Orlando is faced with stiff competition throughout its early season matches, which present a grand opportunity to build team chemistry and fortitude that will only truly manifest itself as the season progresses. While Cavalry FC may have not presented much a challenge on the pitch, the logistics of starting a season off thousands of miles away in the Pacific Northwest were challenges that the Lions had to face before a 48-hour turnaround to open the regular season against a CF Montreal side which some are projecting to be a surprise force in the Eastern Conference. Sandwich in the close-out leg against Cavalry in the CCC at home some 72 hours later, and you once again have a recipe for tired legs but early season growth through adversity.

Up next was Saturday’s forgettable trip to square off against archrival Inter Miami. A year ago, Orlando City was one of the only MLS sides to truly frustrate one of the world’s best and unfortunately for players, coaches and fans alike, the first meeting between the rival sides in 2024 ended with a landslide victory for Messi and friends. Still, despite the frustrating loss, there are lessons to be learned and mistakes to correct which can only help the squad grow as the season progresses.

As if all of the schedule congestion was not enough, Orlando learned that its prize for dispatching Cavalry in the CCC was a rematch against Tigres, once again in a two-match, survive-and-advance format. The first game will be played two and a half days after having been beaten down by Miami and the second will come a week later, with yet another MLS regular-season match crammed in between.

All in all, once Orlando City is done facing off against Tigres, the team will have traveled roughly 9,700 miles for matches in the first 21 days of the season and played a match roughly every 60 hours. These matches and the quality of the opponents present Orlando and its players with numerous chances for individual and squad growth, and the experience, especially for still a somewhat young team, is something OCSC can draw upon once the late season and playoff push portion of the calendar arrive. I truly believe this early in the season the importance of the results of the matches come secondary to the opportunities for growth when faced with so many challenges so quickly.

Let us know in the comments below if you think that the early season match ups against quality opponents will ultimately hurt or benefit Orlando City and, as always, vamos Orlando!

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