On Sept. 6, a fan at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy was accused of yelling racial slurs directed at Portland Thorns FC goalkeeper Adrianna Franch as the team played Utah Royals FC.
On Saturday morning, the National Women’s Soccer League announced that the fan, who has not been publicly identified, has been banned from both Rio Tinto Stadium as well as all NWSL games.
“NWSL will not tolerate inappropriate fan behavior,” the league’s statement reads. “Racism has no place in our sport.”
After the NWSL released its statement, the Real Salt Lake organization released one in which it said the fan has been banned for life from Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, where Real Monarchs SLC plays, in addition to Rio Tinto Stadium.
“If any incidents of racism occur, we encourage fans to immediately alert the nearest stadium security/staff in their section and contact stadium personnel on the fan text line at (801)996-4042,” the statement concluded.
The Thorns quoted the NWSL’s tweet and said, “Zero tolerance for racism. Thank you @UtahRoyalsFC and @NWSL for the thorough investigation and firm action.”
Last Friday during URFC’s 1-0 win over the Thorns, a fan posted a tweet indicating that someone in Section 15 (near the north end of the field) was directing racial slurs at Franch, who is black. Security personnel were sent over but could not initially identify the offending person.
In the days following, the NWSL, URFC, players and URFC head coach Laura Harvey made statements condemning racism as URFC’s investigation into the matter continued.
This is the third time in less than two months that the Real Salt Lake organization has had to respond to intolerance at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL head coach Mike Petke was fired after reportedly directing a Spanish homophobic slur at an official on July 24, and two RSL fans were asked a few weeks ago to take down a “Betsy Ross flag,” which is seen by some as a symbol of hate.