Column: USL Championship is now on the clock to address Riverhounds-Hartford end-of-match alleged racial slur incident

It’s clear that emotions were flowing and flying high in Saturday’s match between the Riverhounds and Hartford Athletic FC.

Then, things got out of hand as the match reached critical very late moments.

If you don’t already know, the Riverhounds scored early, then scored a dramatic late goal to defeat Hartford Athletic FC, 2-1, at Trinity Health Stadium on Saturday night.

But what happened late in the match, after the Hounds took the lead, things turned following an incident in stoppage time, when Hartford’s Marlon Hairston pleaded with officials after something was said in an exchange he had with Riverhounds SC captain Danny Griffin.

Stoppage time incident clouds Riverhounds late game-winner at Hartford

After more than 10 minutes, Hartford players and technical staff refused to finish the game, citing in a post-match statement that they did not feel comfortable with proceeding with the match.

“The club has requested the league to conduct an investigation regarding the use of racially offensive language by a Pittsburgh player,” Hartford’s statement, issued on social media platforms, read.

As a result, with some time still to be played after the altercation, no cards were issued, but referee Greg Dopka ended the match after speaking with both coaches.

Shortly after Pittsburgh Soccer Now reached out to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC team officials, the club issued a statement.

Head Coach Bob Lilley didn’t directly address the incident in his post match comments, but did point out that it was an intense contest.

“It was a really competitive game, which you tend to get at this time of the year when people are fighting for playoff positioning,” Lilley stated.

Our friends with The Blazing Musket were reporting on site, adding some more depth to the developments as they were unfolding during and after the match, with coverage that included additional follow-up and added details about a couple of skirmishes that took place in the stands during and after the match ended.

For some reason, on Sunday, the Hartford organization decided to reinforce its desire and make another plead for the league to investigate the matter further.

There are multiple reasons why Hartford opted to issue this additional statement.  Out of the many reasons, it was also clear that they wanted to point out that it was officially ruled as an abandoned match though the Riverhounds and official league scoreboard and standings recognize the result as a Riverhounds full-time victory.

According to the United Soccer League (USL), an abandoned match refers to a match that is not completed due to various reasons, including player safety concerns, weather conditions, or other unforeseen circumstances.

For example, a match can be abandoned if players feel unsafe or if the match is halted due to player conduct that threatens the welfare of participants. This definition encompasses situations where the match is not played out to conclusion, either before or after the scheduled time.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now has also reached out to league officials, to inquire about the investigative process relating to this situation.  The league has created a Foul and Abusive Language Panel.

Here is the statement PSN has received from league officials.

“The league has been made aware of an alleged incident during the Hartford Athletic–Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC match. We are reviewing the matter and will not be providing further comment at this time.”

Pro soccer both in the U.S. and internationally, sadly, is not immune to such incidents both including racial and homophobic slurs, from both fans and players.  There’s some precedent to how similar cases have been handled.

Back in 2020, USL created a partnership with The Institute for Sport and Social Justice which The Institute provided league-wide training and education for all staff and players. Working together with the USL Players Association and both the Championship and League One Board of Governors, the USL instituted increased sanctions for players and coaches found to have used foul and abusive language.

There have been some notorious incidents with players using racial and homophobic slurs in USL Championship since that time. One incident occurred in 2021 when LA Galaxy II parted ways with Omar Ontiveros after the defender used a racial slur towards a San Diego Loyal player, prompting the club to forfeit the match in protest.  The incident occurred in a 1-1 draw between the two USL Championship sides.  Ontiveros voiced a the slur towards a black player in the 71st minute, receiving no immediate discipline for the incident from the officials, but was later given a six-match suspension then subsequently cut from the club.

In 2023, USL Championship suspended Orange County midfielder Kevin Partida for use of foul and abusive language.  Partida allegedly directed a homophobic slur towards a San Diego Loyal SC player that was witnessed by multiple players on the field.  The Foul and Abusive Language Panel concluded that a homophobic slur was used in violation of the league’s zero-tolerance policy related to any form of harassment or discrimination.

The player, USLPA and both clubs accepted the outcome of the investigation and, as a result, Partida completed mandatory sensitivity training and suspended for six games and fined an undisclosed amount.

Of course, those incidents were different than what happened in Hartford, in that neither side disputed what took place and there’s no certainty that there were any witnesses who heard was said between Hairston and Griffin,

Bottom line here, hate or discriminatory speech is an issue everywhere the sport is played with people from disparate backgrounds.

Allegations of racial abuse are a very serious matter.

Having my own family members — also on soccer field no less — having been taunted and called racial slurs is something that was incredibly upsetting and I believe there should be zero tolerance for such behavior.

However, when I hear words denigrating another person, I also think a lot about all of the things I’ve tried to learn over the years to help find solutions to such an important and greater societal issue that corrodes something I have great passion for — sports and community.

One of the great voices in race relations in the past 50-plus years has been Harry Edwards, who famously spearheaded Olympic Project for Human Rights, wrote a renowned memoir “The Struggle That Must Be” and has since over the years been hired by pro sports leagues to work on combating racism in sport.

I always admired how Edwards often took a unique approach toward discipline and player behavior (as well as management too — if you recall his role in Major League Baseball in the mid-1980s) in dealing with these types of incidents, focusing on what he called the ladder approach.

“If a player or coach violated the league’s personal conduct rules,” Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner shared with ESPN.com earlier this year about Edwards’ approach. “He (Edwards), said, you gave [him] an opportunity to take that ladder and climb out of it. But you had to climb out of it and earn your way back.”

It was clear that Hairston was visibly upset with Griffin to the point where he couldn’t continue playing and relentlessly made a point to keep protesting with the officials, to his teammates, coaches and team management and apparently back at Griffin, Hounds Head Coach Bob Lilley and anyone else that was willing to hear him during 10-plus minute sequence that played out as the game was halted with the Hounds leading 2-1, in stoppage time.

Shortly after Hairston began pleading with officials, players walking around were trying to sort out what was happening, including Griffin.

At one point, Hairston pushed teammates away from him as he pleaded with Dopka.

The official allowed the 31-year-old veteran, who has played for numerous Major League Soccer clubs and one-time was a part of United States Soccer Men’s National Team player pool, to express himself, before walking over to the fourth official and area between the benches, where he made a phone call.

Griffin, the Hounds captain and a Connecticut native playing before a contingent of family and friends, looked visibly stunned by the allegations and appeared to be pleading with Hairston and other Athletic players that he didn’t say anything derogatory.

Hairston went on social media a few hours after the match.

For a player who has been praised for his character repeatedly by teammates, coaches and just about everyone who he’s interacted with in the Greater Pittsburgh soccer community and beyond, initial reaction to the allegation made by Hairston has been that of disbelief along with feeling that it would be hard to believe that Griffin would have said something so offensive.

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Danny Griffin and interview him — I would say at least a couple dozen times — in his five-plus years in two stints with the Riverhounds organization.  Griffin has always been one of the most genuine, respectful and thoughtful professional athletes that I’ve interacted with in my many years of being involved in the game both as a coach and a journalist. For Head Coach Bob Lilley essentially to hand-pick Griffin to become anointed as the team’s captain to replace USL Championship and Riverhounds legend, Kenardo Forbes, while Forbes was still playing, always said a lot to me about how much Lilley and all of the players who’ve been in the team’s locker room value Griffin as a player and as a person.

On the flip side, all indications and things I’ve learned about Hairston speak similarly to being a person of upstanding character and a quality teammate.

Quite frankly, this is not a pleasant situation at all.

It feels like the USL’s Foul and Abusive Language Panel, the clubs and the USLPA have a challenging case to deal with, especially if there’s very little evidence beyond what both players are saying.

It’s upsetting that we have to address this instead of what was a very exciting and hard-fought match between two quality soccer clubs battling for playoff positioning.

It’s also possible that during a high-level athletic competition in a loud stadium environment, some words could be misheard or confused.

However, in this case, as both sides have said, in somewhat varying ways but agree, this is a matter that’s now in the hands of the USL Championship administration to further investigate.

There have been times where these investigations have dragged out for some time and others where it’s been resolved pretty quickly.

That being said, I would like to reiterate that it would be stunning that racial slur came out of the mouth of Danny Griffin.

Griffin’s actions over the years as a person and as a player speak volumes.  It’s clear that the Riverhounds are standing by him — so much to the point that they made sure to include that in their statement released on Saturday night.

Here’s hoping that this matter is resolved and everyone involved can move forward positively.