Major League Soccer has suspended Philadelphia Union defender Kai Wagner for three games for violating the league’s on-field anti-discrimination policy, it said Tuesday.
The suspension follows an Oct. 30 complaint from the New England Revolution alleging Wagner directed a racial slur at the Revs’ Bobby Wood last week, which The Athletic previously reported.
Wagner will not travel with the Union for Wednesday’s playoff game against the Revolution in Foxboro, Massachusetts, coach Jim Curtin said. If Union is eliminated from the playoffs before Wagner has fully served his suspension, it will continue until the start of the next season. Wagner is also required to attend league-mandated education and training sessions, a process that has already begun, the league said, and “must fully adhere to a program led by a league-appointed expert in restorative practices.” becomes.”
Multiple sources briefed on the situation said the incident occurred in the final moments of the opening-round playoff game between Union and Revolution on October 29.
The game was generally a tense affair and in the 87th minute Revolution striker Giacomo Vrioni fouled Union defender Nathan Harriel, for which he was issued a yellow card. While the game was being reviewed by the video assistant referee for a possible red card, radio footage showed several other players from both sides chatting among themselves, including Wagner and Wood.
Wagner, who is German, allegedly insulted Wood in German at that point, the sources said. Wood speaks German and spent the first decade of his professional career and several years as a youth player in Germany. Revolution players and coaches brought the alleged insult to the attention of the match management and the incident was noted in referee Pierre-Luc Lauzière’s post-match report, according to sources.
The insult Wagner allegedly directed at Wood was historically directed at Asian people. Wood is of Japanese and African American descent.
The incident with Wagner will inevitably be compared to a similar incident in April 2023 with Dante Vanzeir of the New York Red Bulls. Vanzeir also used a racial slur and was ultimately suspended for six games. In this case, a league source with direct knowledge of the investigation said Wagner’s punishment was lighter because he immediately admitted to using the slur, which Vanzeir did not. The source said Tuesday that Wagner “participated openly and openly in all discussions” related to the investigation.
In a news release, the league said it considered many factors, “including Wagner’s immediate acceptance of responsibility for the violation, his willingness to engage in a restorative process to redress the harm caused, and his cooperation with the league’s investigation.”
Wagner, 26, is in the final year of his contract with the Union and has attracted interest from clubs in Germany and Britain.
(Photo: Eric Canha / USA Today)