There is something more important than the outcome of a soccer game. Even between bitter rivals whose football matches are bitter, even between bitter rivals who want their supporters to destroy each other’s heads rather than shaking hands.
The match between LAFC and Galaxy’s El Trafico is one of their proper rivalries. In just eight seasons, he blossomed into the most intense, meaningful and emotional rivals in MLS. And sometimes, especially in the early days of the Derby, that sentiment took place barely checked, with some fans watching their nights ending in handcuffs and hospital emergency rooms.
Last Saturday was different. Well, at least, it started differently before it ended with the same wild and loud sex that came to define El Traffico. A little about that.
But first, some background.
More than six weeks ago, masked federal agents, quickly backed by the National Guard forces and the US Marines, began invading nearby areas in Southern California during immigrant raids, and the Times reported that it had led to more than 2,700 arrests. More than two-thirds of those arrested were not convicted of a crime, and 57% were never charged with a crime.
And here the story becomes a soccer thing.
Soccer is an immigrant sport due to habits and breeding. Like pizza, sushi and Halloween, soccer was imported to the US by immigrants and became popular in immigrant districts before spreading across cultures. For many football fans, the violent attacks that defeated families and communities were personal.
Angel City FC, Los Angeles National Women’s Soccer League team, and LAFC responded immediately. Within hours of the first attack, both teams issued statements of fan support.
“When many people in our city feel fear and uncertainty,” reads the LAFC statement, “LAFC holds shoulders side by side with all members of our community.”
Galaxy and its parent company, AEG, have been silent so far, like other MLS. Silence, who has kept his ears to many of its supporters, began boycotting the team and its activities. Longtime season ticket holders cancelled their orders and for the first time, three sections of the upper deck, reserved for fans of the visiting team, at El Trafico at BMO Stadium, at Saturday’s El Trafico.
So, LAFC Supporters Union stepped into Boyd to convey a message Galaxy fans haven’t got from the club yet. We have your back. Just before the North Stand kickoff LAFC fans, they spread out a huge banner with the words “Los Angeles Unidos Jamas Seravencido” (“Los Angeles, United, never to be defeated.”
LAFC fans have shown their support before the team’s rival game against Galaxy at BMO Stadium on Saturday.
(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)
This message is a revolutionary slogan view that begins with “The People United.” It was born in Chile in the 1970s, but has long been popular with grassroots movements across Latin America. Its meaning is because it transcends political and football to provide universal truths about unity and justice.
In this fight, LAFC supporters said that two local MLS teams were on the same side. They were not sung “Kumbaya” precisely, joining their hands with Galaxy supporters. But it was close.
Given the history and legacy of football, it is sad and clear that LAFC remains the only organization of the MLS organization to talk about the fear and frustration caused by the immigrant raid. After all, this is not a political issue. The LAFC’s short, 49-word statement states that sources from the league that are not permitted to speak publicly have been approved by the MLS, and never mentions politics or immigration. Instead, we celebrate the importance of diversity.
But in the league that owes its very existence to immigrants, no other teams had the courage to take that step. Citing league and team sources, Rolling Stone said he was worried about retaliating the Trump administration, which launched the attack, despite any kind of position. They cite the example of the Dodgers being sued by a conservative legal group lined up in Trump after pledging to give $1 million to support immigrant families.
League executives who were not allowed to talk about the record pushed it back.
The closest thing that the league has to make formal policy declarations on such issues is the two-year-old code of conduct that prohibits the display of signs, symbols, or images used for commercial purposes, or that prohibits fans from displaying signs, symbols, or images in order to support or against political candidates, party, legislative issues, or government lawsuits.
The league may implicitly encourage teams to remain silent, but its policies do not explicitly prohibit the galaxy or other teams from supporting immigrants and opposing the arrest of legal residents. But the NWSL Angel City and Chicago Red Star are the only top-tier soccer teams that still do so.
That’s why MLS supporters from Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, Nashville and Austin have been able to take action with the fans along with MLS supporters from the boycott of banners and staging.
But that’s not the only thing when ice is a common enemy. After Galaxy came together twice from a two-goal deficit on Saturday to tie LAFC with the final touch of the game, the game-rivals were back damaged by a mini-browl involving as many as 10 players early in the suspension.
There seems to be a limit to solidarity.
I’ve read the latest football work with covin Kevin Baxter. Each weekly column will take you behind the scenes and shine a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Galaxy of the Galaxy” podcast.
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