WashPost: Fan Sues U.S. Soccer Over Alleged Discrimination

This guy's an idiot. I was at that game it there is now way the case will hold over in court. The USSF preventing selling to him to have homefield advantage? haha the crowd was over 75% Honduran fans.

 

I bet he couldn't do that in Honduras. They'd have him arrested in a heartbeat. I love how people from countries with no history of due process come here and take full advantage of our system! [end rant]

I think it will get thrown out since no one was denied the right to purchase a ticket. USSF will claim it was for security/safety of fans to separate seating. Not that it helped much since 2/3 of the stadium were Honduran supporters.

 

I think you vastly overstate the sophistication of ticket distribution in Honduras or anywhere else in Latin America. If there was a large El Salvadoran population in Honduras, they'd be able to get their hands on tickets to a game without any problems. The issue in L.A. is that there typically are not large immigrant populations.

 

colleges do this all the time, but legally, they make you join athletic foundations and donate certain amounts of money for tickets.

An example would be if you want tickets for the Honduras game you have to buy tickets for the Canada game as well. Something like that.

 

Alberto:

You’re right. Many of my 'Hispanics' brothers abuse the system. I can attest to that.

But, remember, this is what makes this country great: A SYSTEM OF LAW WHERE NO ONE IS ABOVE IT AND, BY THE SAME TOKEN, NO ONE IS EXCLUDED FROM IT.

DUE PROCESS is one of the 'sacred' guarantees emanating from our 'bill of rights'.

I can recite by memory the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

Can you?

 

Maybe I should sue each and every Honduran for the physical and emotional damage my wife and I suffered when the beer, water bottles, food, and who knows what else rained down on us when we though we were at a home game.

 

Sounds like the student section of an LSU home game.

 

This is just another in a LONG line of "stupid" & "worthless" lawsuits IMHO.

Why shouldn't US Soccer do EVERYTHING in their power to establish a "true" home-field advantage for our USMNT, especially in a crucial WCQ?!! It's not as if he was denied access to ALL tickets. He could've purchased seats in the upper level.

Does anybody really think that if a group of US fans went to a WCQ in central america, we would be given "first-class" seats in the opponent's stadium?? I think NOT.

I APPLAUD US Soccer for taking the initative & trying to provide a home-field advantage for our boys, despite the fact that the Honduras WCQ "blew up" in our face. It's not racism, it's Nationalism or Patriotism, and there's NOTHING wrong with that.

 

No not as bad as the abuse LSU fans "pour" out. I went to Tulane I suffered through a lot of bottles being thrown in my direction.

 

Reading this I recall Mark Madden's blurb in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during the world cup, when he said how much he resented long-resident immigrants who continue to root for the mother country against the US. He was witing specifically about Mexican-Americans, but it applies to everybody. The immigrant populations are now upset that Americans are finally taking an interest in "their" game, and their teams no longer have the advantage of a "home" game away from home. I have heard the Mexican team is bitter anytime they have to play somewhere in the US other than Los Angeles too. Apparently playing in cold weather in front of hostile fans feels too much like an away game.

 

Mods: Could you change the subject line of this thread?

The fella is not a Honduran fan. He is a Hispanic who (IIRC) holds DC United season tickets. As a supporter of soccer in the US, he deserves access to the best seats.

My girlfriend's last name is Gonzalez. If she buys us tickets to a game, should we be segregated out?

 

Fan Alleges Ticket Bias At RFK Soccer Match

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8134-2002Jul26.html

 

This is pretty old news.

The solution is to play where the vast majority of fans are pro-USA. I see no alternative. Columbus, NE, and Kansas City would be good choices. We simply must have a full home field advantage if we intend to qualify.

 

Yes, but it's the first I've heard about a class action lawsuit and Justice Dept. investigation.

 

This is an ultra-sensitive issue. Many Hispanics do not support the USA team. Yet, Hispanics are disproportionately the biggest supporters of American soccer in general. Look at the old Univision MLS ratings. If the entire population supported MLS the way Hispanics do, we might be arguing whether soccer was more popular than basketball.

The only solution is to play the qualifiers where there is likely to be overwhelming USA team support. If not, then must do everything to avoid a fiasco like this again.

 

That's nice if you believe that. I've been an attorney for eight years and there are plenty of people in this country who are above the law. Take that fact to the bank.

 

Except for the fact he was a US supporter?

We should play at venues that have proven to give us the greatest advantage, not try to segregate AMERICANS based on who they might support. It's a touchy situation all around, but there are much better ways of handling it.

 

Basing seat assignments on who you plan to root for is legit (although it's a bit of a gray area here, since team loyalty overlaps with national origin), but discriminating based on ethnicity isn't - there aren't exceptions to civil rights laws for soccer. I'm no expert, but it sounds like the guy has a pretty strong case.

For example, if the USA was to play Mexico at RFK, I imagine that plenty of Central Americans would come to the game, and NOT root for Mexico. Would it be ethical, or legal, to subject one of them to discrimination because his name ends in Z? What about trying to force everyone of apparently African descent to the cheap seats for a qualifier against Jamaica or T and T, would that be acceptable?

Oh, and if you're going to support a policy of assuming people are the enemy and discriminating against them based on their name and accent, it's pretty hypocritical to then whine about ungrateful Hispanic immigrants who should all start supporting the US team from the moment they cross the border.

 

Its simple:

Play Mexico in Kansas City or Columbus not Texas or California. Plau Costa Rica and Honduras in the same places not in Florida or New York. Play Canada in Florida not in Seattle or New York.

Play where there would be the least amount of fans for the opposing team and in the climate that they are not used to. Play Jamaica in the North not in the Deep South. Thats not racist or prejudice or politically incorrect its just smart marketing and football practice.

 

But can't we do it without violating the law?

 

Bueno considerando que yo naci en Cuba yo creo que yo estoy dentro de mis derechos en criticar las aciones de otros Latinos que vienen a vir en los EEUU.

 

The whole heart of this issue was addressed by several other posters. The USSF arranged ticket sales if I recall correctly. You could purchase tickets through the USSF and they looked to segregate the seating so that USA fans sat in the lower bowl and Hondurans and other fan sat in the upper. It backfired in that 2/3 of the fans were Honduran. It's probably a moot point that RFK will ever host another WCQ given the poor turnout by USA supporters. Like some other posters said, nothing wrong with the USSF choosing a means to insure itself of a home field advantage. It allowed access to the match for Honduran fans.

 

The saddest part of this all is that US failed to fill the stadium with our own fans. There is no excuse for Honduras taking control of our home game. Do you think that ************ happens when we play there?

 

Yes, the solution is obvious. Play where the fans are overwhelmingly going to support the USA. It worked in qualifying...when we tried it!