The LA Galaxy condemned the online racial abuse against defender Derrick Williams amid the fallout of a red-card tackle in the team's match last week against the Portland Timbers.
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Williams was shown the red card for a hard foul on Portland's Andy Polo in the first half of Timbers' 3-0 win against the Galaxy. Polo was helped off the field and will miss the season due to surgery on a torn right quad and a torn meniscus in his right knee.
LA Galaxy's Derrick Williams has suffered racial abuse after his tackle on Andy Polo. Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
"The LA Galaxy are aware of hateful, threatening and racially abusive social media messages sent to defender Derrick Williams. This abhorrent language and behavior have no place in our sport or in our society," the Galaxy said on Friday.
"The club is working with Major League Soccer and the proper authorities to identify any and all abusers. We will take the appropriate next steps to protect Derrick and all of our players from these acts of hate."
Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney told reporters on Thursday that Williams was remorseful for injuring Polo.
"I spoke with him after the game and I've checked in with him over the course of the week every day, basically," Vanney said. "We talked about the moment itself, and what was in his mind and all that stuff and he shared that obviously he's incredibly remorseful. He reached out to the player in the moment, he reached out to the player after. The loser right now in this is the player who is out for the rest of the year."
The league has not ruled on whether Williams will miss additional matches for the foul.
Source: espn.co.uk