FC Dallas asked Reggie Cannon to apologize to fans for booing BLM protest
Reggie Cannon said FC Dallas prepared a statement apologizing to fans who threw objects at kneeling players who were peacefully protesting before MLS game.
Reggie Cannon started his professional career as a soccer player in 2017 with FC Dallas and played 67 games in Major League Soccer. The 22-year-old defender played three seasons at the club and after completing his move to Boavista he spoke out about receiving racist abuse and death threats following a match last August.
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Cannon said that FC Dallas wanted him to apologize to fans for calling their behaviour “disgusting” after they threw objects and booed players who kneeled during the national anthem. After the death of George Floyd, MLS allowed players to kneel during the national anthem in a symbol of peaceful protest.
Peaceful protest
The 22-year-old defender spoke on the Crack Podcast hosted by former USMNT players DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu, where he recalled the incident occurring on 12 August before the regular season game against Nashville SC in Frisco, Texas.
Prior to the beginning of that game all 22 players agreed to kneel during the national anthem and some of the fans started booing them even though they were like many other athletes peacefully protesting a number of high-profile events of police brutality.
"It was disgusting. You’ve got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause and we discussed with every other team and the league what we’re going to do, and we’ve got fans booing us in our own stadium. How disgraceful is that?” said Cannon during the Podcast.
During the show Cannon said that FC Dallas bosses wanted him to release a statement apologizing to the fans for peacefully protesting. "They had written out a statement. I kid you not. I said. ‘With all respect, I am not apologizing. I didn’t do anything wrong'," he said.
"Everyone at the club said, ‘We have your back 100 percent' and when it actually gets sticky, and you actually have to go through it, I mean I’m looking around and I’m almost alone in this," Cannon said.