Goal Scored: The MLS teams owners must be pro-fascist


But that wouldn’t be surprising.  Rich people are like that.

Taking a page from Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerburg, the MLS are treating fascists and white supremacists as “protected groups” while anti-fascists and anti-racists are being ejected from their stadiums.  Iron Front fans are being ejected for “political banners and protest signs”, but racists wearing t-shirts and spewing chants are not.  Fans are walking out in protest at the hypocrisy.

Anti-fascist MLS fans have adopted the Iron Front symbol, incorporating it into the MLS logo.  I was actually unaware of the Iron Front’s history, an alliance of anti-fascists and anti-communists in Germany who opposed fought against the rise of nazism. The MLS fans who wave the Iron Front logo in the US are antifa supporters who oppose gun violence and racism.  I’m in awe of what MLS fans have done, the sheer brilliance of it.  Bravo.

This is the original Iron Front logo from 1932:

And a poster from 1932:

 

Comments

  1. blf says

    Different issue (other than also involves bizarre actions by soccer officialdom), here in France, recently several games have by stopped (temporarily?) by the referees because of homophobic / transphobic chanting / singing by the fans. Soccerdom’s reaction? ‘Not the same as racism’: French referees told not to stop football matches over homophobia:

    The head of French football said Tuesday that he had instructed referees to no longer stop matches over homophobic abuse from fans, putting him on a collision course with the sports ministry and the football league.

    Speaking to France Info, Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation (FFF), said that stopping matches for anti-gay chants and banners in the stands was “a mistake”, and that he hoped his decision would take effect from this weekend’s games.

    “I would stop a match for racist chants. I would stop a match for fighting or if there were a dangerous situation in the stands,” Le Graët said.

    But racism and homophobia “are not the same thing”, he insisted, adding that it should be down to the clubs to stop those responsible from getting into stadiums.

    […]

    He also claimed that politicians were trying to exploit the problem in an effort to look good “in front of television cameras”.

    […]

    Equalities minister Marlène Schiappa publicly praised referee Clément Turpin after he stopped Marseille’s 2–1 win at Nice for over 10 minutes last month following sustained abusive chanting and banners from home fans.

    […]

    Since the start of the French football season on August 9, there have been at least 20 cases of fans chanting homophobic slurs or showing anti-gay banners during domestic games. By contrast, there were 111 incidents of homophobic abuse in England over the course of the entire 2017–2018 season, according to Kick It Out, a British pressure group for equality in the sport.