Cavalry FC Players Accuse Forge FC Assistant Coach of Making Racist Remarks

Update: The Canadian Premier League has released a statement regarding the incident. So has Forge FC.

The Canadian Championship match between Forge FC and Cavalry FC was a heated one, and seems to have been the start of a the league’s best naturally-developed rivalry on the pitch.

However, English striker Jordan Brown has reported that Forge FC assistant coach Peter Reynders crossed the line: Brown and his colleagues have made statements which indicate the 54-year-old coach made racist comments during last night’s post-game altercation.

Reynders had taken over head coach duties for the Canadian Championship match while Bobby Smyrniotis completed a UEFA coaching course in Europe.

The statement has since been backed up by Brown’s Cavalry FC teammates Nathan Mavila and Elijah Adekugbe, with all of the players universally requesting that the Canadian Premier League investigates the incident. According to Brown, they’ll be reporting the alleged racial abuse as a team.

Just addressing what happened after yesterday’s game. Things happen in sport, things get heated after games, during games, et cetera, and it’ll always be he-said who started this fight, but at the end of the day, I don’t condone racism in any shape or form. I don’t condone discrimination, and that’s what transpired yesterday from Forge’s [assistant] head coach after the game. A couple of my colleagues had witnessed this. Luckily I never witnessed this, because I would have probably done something I regretted. But, I know it wasn’t in the CPL competition. I think they need to stand up for this and do something about this. We’ll be reporting this as a team, and hopefully the right thing and the right call gets made.

Jordan Brown, Cavalry FC

It goes without saying that any kind of racism or discrimination has no place in the game – or anywhere else, for that matter. The players have demanded that the league investigate the incident, and we can only hope they – or the CSA – follow up with an official investigation.

The Canadian Premier League has yet to make an official statement regarding the abhorrent incident, but given that the league has done everything to back up its ‘We Are Many, We Are One’ mantra, it’s expected that an official investigation will take place soon.

Given how quiet the CSA was while it investigated the Bekker-Di Chiara incident, fans might be in for some radio silence while the CSA completes its investigation, on the presumption that it begins one.

If the investigation comes back with a positive, conclusive result regarding the assistant coach, it could mark a dark spot in the young league’s history: the first team anyone has been fired for making racist remarks. At the end of the day, the claims of the Cavalry players need to be investigated.

It’s also important that fans allow for an official investigation to take place before condemning the assistant coach.

The Canadian Premier League introduced a new Pride Month logo this week, promoting acceptance and pride for members of the LGBQT community. Yesterday’s incident is an unfortunate detraction from what should be a month of unity.

We’ll keep you updated as the story develops.