A U-19 soccer match in Las Vegas, Nevada, garnered backlash after one of the teen players told the ref that he wanted to “hear English,” given the fact that the opposing team had players speaking in Spanish, given their Latino heritage.
The incident took place during a match between LVSA and Summit FC at the Vegas Cup U-19. TikToker 3.touch.tekkers shared a summary of the match, which was filled with tense moments, fouls, and a controversial ending.
With that being said, the highlight of the match didn’t occur during a play, but rather during a verbal exchange between one of the Summit FC players and the referee.
“I want to hear English,” the player with the #12 jersey said, as he pointed at one of LVSA’s players, a Latino teenager. “Hey, we’re in America, speak English, let’s go.”
One of the LVSA player’s teammates stepped up in his defense, calling out #12’s comments as inappropriate.
The rest of the match went on, and LVSA scored one goal. Yellow cards were shown, as the match grew heated, with players from both teams fouling their rivals, potentially fueled by the previous racially-charged remarks.
A Chaotic Ending
The match came to a close with a chaotic ending, as shown in a follow-up clip. At one point, LVSA thought it was a great idea to send out 12 players to the field. Of course, that is very much against the rules. Soccer only allows 11 players to be on the field at a time.
The 12th member received a red card immediately. However, Summit FC made such a fuss that the Nevada referee showed a red card to one of their players and the team’s coach. Given that Summit FC didn’ty have an assistant coach to take over coaching duties, they ended up forfeiting the match. Either way, they were losing 0-1 to LVSA.
Users were quick to call out the Nevada player’s comments on the pitch, many calling the teenager racist. Others celebrated that Summit FC lost the match, an outcome many wished for.
“Why is blatant racism and bigotry not a red card?” one user asked. Another one said, “Seeing the white team get humbled genuinely made my day.” A third one added, “If they wanna hear English so bad, then go play American football.”
While both teams made some questionable moves during the match, what the teen player said was inexcusable. After all, soccer, as many pointed out, is an international sport, and sports in general are meant to bring people together, not to divide them further.
