One the one hand, the MLS launched the Don’t Cross the Line anti-discrimination campaign in 2017. On the other hand, Don Garber seems to be more worried about avoiding a potential NFL-stlye backlash from the MAGA hate, (excuse me, I meant hat…) wearing middle America wallets. His wishy-washy response to the infiltration of white supremacist fans in New York City FC supporters groups and the new MLS Code of Conduct that prohibits among other things, any political language or sign seems to be the MLS equivalent of “There were good people on both sides.” Many people inside and outside of the TA have been wondering how this was going to affect tifo displays in Portland, AKA Little Beirut. With a 12 game away streak starting the season, anticipation had been building. The Vancouver Whitecaps had already ejected Seattle Sounders fans displaying an anti-fascist banner in 2017. Interesting now that’s come to light that the Whitecaps have a human-rights issues. There have been reports of people being asked to remove anti-racist and anti-fascist banners this season too. (Citation needed. Do you have one?) What’s that mean for Portland? We regularly fly banners and flags with political messages. The entire fanbase may not agree with them, but they do define a large part of our supporter’s culture, and it would be hard to fathom the Timbers front office rolling over on this. (Sure, insert your derisive snort if you want to…) Well, now we know, according to this release from the Independent Supporter’s Council.
The Portland Timbers front office has confirmed to 107IST/Timbers Army that they will definitely allow anti-racist and anti-fascist words to be displayed at Providence Park.
Read the full statement after the jump.
In the past few months, the Independent Supporters Council has been keeping an eye on events across the league in regards to the newly published Supporters Code of Conduct. We were especially concerned with the term “political” in the new Code of Conduct as it pertains to supporters being able to visually show support for initiatives that we hold important and that align with the MLS “Soccer for All” campaign.In the past few months, the Independent Supporters Council has been keeping an eye on events across the league in regards to the newly published Supporters Code of Conduct. We were especially concerned with the term “political” in the new Code of Conduct as it pertains to supporters being able to visually show support for initiatives that we hold important and that align with the MLS “Soccer for All” campaign.
After speaking with our members, Timbers Army, and our MLS leaguecontacts, we would like to publicly state a decision that we believe will set precedence for supporters around the league. The Portland Timbers front office has confirmed to 107IST/Timbers Army that they will definitely allow anti-racist and anti-fascist words to be displayed at Providence Park.
We urge all clubs and supporters to use this decision made in Portland as precedence when evaluating incidents in their own stadiums. The Independent Supporters Council continues to believe MLS must differentiate between statements of inclusion, tolerance, and mutual respect and statements that oppose these shared values.
As the season continues, we hope to see not only individual clubs, but Major League Soccer take an active stance in favor of human rights.