San Diego forfeits after Rising FC’s Flemmings allegedly uses gay slur

Wednesday night’s USL Championship match between Phoenix Rising FC and San Diego Loyal SC came to an end for all the wrong reasons.

Moments before the halftime whistle, San Diego’s Collin Martin — an openly gay player — was allegedly called a homophobic slur by Phoenix Rising forward Junior Flemmings.

Loyal SC manager Landon Donovan then gave PRFC manager Rick Schantz an ultimatum of subbing the Jamaican off the field or the U.S. Men’s National Team legend would elect to have his team forfeit and walk off the pitch.

“I also then went to their coach and said ‘I just want to be really clear on this, we’ve had a really hard week,'” Donovan said in a statement after the game. “He and I talked about it before the game about how much we’ve been through.

“And I just said if you don’t pull the player off the field, if you don’t sub him off, our players are not going to play because we have to make a stand. So either you do it or else we’re going to have to do it. And he said ‘I’m not going to sub him off the field.’ I said OK, that’s fair. That’s your choice. And then our guys to their immense credit said we’re not going to stand for this.”

My statement on what happened in last nights match. The response that followed from my coaches, teammates, and the entire @SanDiegoLoyal organization was truly moving. They had my back and wanted to make a statement that we aren’t going to stand for this hate in our game. pic.twitter.com/yhTxeL2XkC

— Collin Martin (@martcw12) October 1, 2020

“We are aware of the alleged use of a homophobic slur in tonight’s match between San Diego Loyal SC and Phoenix Rising FC,” the league said in a statement.

“Foul and abusive language of any type has absolutely no place in our society and will not be tolerated in USL matches. An investigation is currently underway to determine the facts surrounding the incident and more information will be provided as soon as it is available.”

pic.twitter.com/sko4hKvWF5

— x-Phoenix Rising FC (@PHXRisingFC) October 1, 2020

Flemmings vehemently denies claims that he called San Diego’s Collin Martin a homophobic slur.

pic.twitter.com/O5CnUfCVew

— Junior”Flemmo”Flemmings (@Flemmo_77) October 1, 2020

But the decision shouldn’t come as a surprise from Donovan.

Last week, Omar Ontiveros — who has since been released by LA Galaxy II — called San Diego midfielder Elijah Martin a racial slur in the second half of a 1-1 draw.

Following the match, Loyal SC announced that the club would not be accepting the point it had earned and would have elected to forfeit and walk off the pitch should the coaching staff had been made aware of the racial slur prior to after the final whistle.

San Diego also made the statement that the club would not stand for racism or homophobia and that Loyal SC would forfeit and walk off the pitch should it happen again.

“We don’t even want to recognize being a part of a match where these types of actions take place.”

Our full statement below regarding the racial slur that was directed at our player in the Sept. 23rd match.#SDLoyal | #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bwIr50ToFy

— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) September 25, 2020

Phoenix was trailing San Diego 3-1 at the time of the incident that saw Donovan come out onto the pitch, have a conversation with the referee and Rising FC manager Rick Schantz, and then eventually receive a red card for coming out onto the pitch before walking off.

Phoenix Rising manager Rick Schantz addresses the audio of him speaking to #SDLoyal manager Landon Donovan.#SDvPHX | #RisingTogether pic.twitter.com/zMOfXKuTg7

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) October 1, 2020

This is probably the best video you'll find of #SDLoyal manager Landon Donovan's discussion with Phoenix Rising manager Rick Schantz (the match announcers' audio has been removed).#SDvPHX | #RisingTogether pic.twitter.com/yQPdwadTN4

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) October 1, 2020

“What I said has been misconstrued in a way that makes me seem as if I don’t care about the LGBTQ community which is the farthest thing from the truth. We support everybody here at Phoenix Rising. We support all the groups, it’s soccer,” Schantz told ABC 15 on Thursday.

“I deeply regret what I said in the moment without having all of the facts. I don’t disrespect them for what they did. I don’t disrespect them at all. And if it was said, I think that it’s awful and that it doesn’t belong in football. After all of that, I spoke to Junior and Junior told me he didn’t say it and he denied it right there. I work with this young man every day. I was in a serious quandary. I have one person yelling at me saying this is what happened and I have a player denying what happened. And I just chose to — I had to support my team and support our players.

“If it comes out that he did say that or he said something disparaging, I think that’s reprehensible and I’m deeply sorry to the player, the fans and all those that are affected. The last 14-16 hours have been very difficult for my family. But I also understand and I regret the statement — no matter what I meant — because I’m not that kind of person.”

The two sides had planned on stopping the game in the 71st minute (the minute Loyal SC’s Elijah Martin was the victim of a racial slur last week) to hold up a banner that read “I will speak. I will act.”

The match will be San Diego’s last of its inaugural season, as Loyal SC required a win plus help elsewhere in order to qualify for Group B’s final playoff spot.

“They were very clear in that moment that they were giving up all hopes of making the playoffs even though they were beating one of the best teams in the league handily,” Donovan said.

“But they said it doesn’t matter, there are things more important in life and we have to stick up for what we believe in. So they made the decision to walk off.”

Rising FC supporters’ group Los Bandidos also released a statement on Thursday.

“At this time as a group and sticking with our traditions as a supporters group and our values, we cannot in good conscience stand in our section at games until there is a final resolution in regards to what happened [Wednesday] night,” the group said.

Phoenix Rising is scheduled to host LA Galaxy II at Casino Arizona Field on Saturday night in the regular-season finale.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be audio broadcasted live on ArizonaSports.com and on the new Arizona Sports app.

Follow @jwa1994