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LA Galaxy "Regret" Beckham's Confrontation With Riot Squad
The LA Galaxy has issued a statement through coach Bruce Arena about David Beckham's halftime confrontation with the LA Riot Squad during the AC Milan friendly.
Jul 20, 2009 7:24:27 PM
The Los Angeles Galaxy has released an official statement regarding David Beckham's confrontation of the members in the LA Riot Squad at halftime of the international friendly with AC Milan. Through head coach and general manager Bruce Arena, the Galaxy maintained it would seek to work with the Riot Squad in meetings and that it "regret[s] the incident."
"We regret the incident that happened at the end of the first half of last night’s friendly at The Home Depot Center. While it is important that our fans remain free to voice their opinions, they must do so in an appropriate manner. We appreciate our players and fans passion for the team and the game, but we all must aim to hold ourselves to higher standards.
"We have a very good relationship with the LA Riot Squad and have already reached out to them to set up a meeting to discuss moving forward together in a positive direction. In addition, the LA Riot Squad has informed us that they have issued a lifetime ban to the fan that went onto the field of play.
"We want to move in a positive direction as an organization, and ask our fans to support our players and our club as we look to return to the playoffs for the first time in three years. We need the support of our fans to continue providing an amazing home environment at The Home Depot Center as we look to reach our shared goal of qualifying for the playoffs."
When Goal.com hit the stands during halftime to figure out what had happened, one member of the Riot Squad called the fan who jumped onto the field to confront Beckham "a real Galaxy fan." In addition, signs aimed negatively at the 34-year-old England international were hung prominently, one of which commanded Beckham to "repent."
Beckham, for his part, refused to acknowledge any malice in his confrontation of the Riot Squad, saying, "There was someone who was saying things that weren’t very nice, stepping over that line. At halftime I looked over and said ‘You need to calm down’."
Arena refused to comment on the incident after the game, maintaining that he had not seen the incident well enough to speak on it. Now, however, he seems eager to patch up relationships with the fans.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
"We regret the incident that happened at the end of the first half of last night’s friendly at The Home Depot Center. While it is important that our fans remain free to voice their opinions, they must do so in an appropriate manner. We appreciate our players and fans passion for the team and the game, but we all must aim to hold ourselves to higher standards.
"We have a very good relationship with the LA Riot Squad and have already reached out to them to set up a meeting to discuss moving forward together in a positive direction. In addition, the LA Riot Squad has informed us that they have issued a lifetime ban to the fan that went onto the field of play.
"We want to move in a positive direction as an organization, and ask our fans to support our players and our club as we look to return to the playoffs for the first time in three years. We need the support of our fans to continue providing an amazing home environment at The Home Depot Center as we look to reach our shared goal of qualifying for the playoffs."
When Goal.com hit the stands during halftime to figure out what had happened, one member of the Riot Squad called the fan who jumped onto the field to confront Beckham "a real Galaxy fan." In addition, signs aimed negatively at the 34-year-old England international were hung prominently, one of which commanded Beckham to "repent."
Beckham, for his part, refused to acknowledge any malice in his confrontation of the Riot Squad, saying, "There was someone who was saying things that weren’t very nice, stepping over that line. At halftime I looked over and said ‘You need to calm down’."
Arena refused to comment on the incident after the game, maintaining that he had not seen the incident well enough to speak on it. Now, however, he seems eager to patch up relationships with the fans.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
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