D.C. United Faces Furious Fans After Supporter Is Slapped With One-Year Ban
http://dcist.com/2016/04/dc_united_f...ny_as_supp.php
By Charles Boehm and Pablo Maurer
The early-spring gloom around D.C. United deepened on Monday, as the winless club banned a leading member of the District Ultras supporters group from attending matches for one year. The punishment, for using a smoke bomb outside RFK Stadium before United's 3-0 loss to FC Dallas on March 26, has many supporters furious at what they say is uneven enforcement and unclear rules.
According to documents obtained by DCist, United fan Matthew Parsons has been officially banned from home games for one calendar year for a “violation of D.C. United and Major League Soccer Fan Code of Conduct (possession and ignition of illegal smoke device on RFK Stadium property).”
The sanction also extends to “all MLS venues and events” for the remainder of the 2016 Major League Soccer season, while the entire District Ultras section “will not be permitted to have flags, flag poles, and drums” at this Saturday's game vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps at RFK—though a team official clarified to DCist yesterday that the Ultras will still be permitted to use drums at the match.
Last month's incident is being categorized as a “first offense” and will be taken into account if future “misconduct” leads to “escalating sanctions” for those involved.
The news has sparked fury among the team's devoted but dwindling corps of hard-core supporters, who have endured a winless start to the current season, deep cuts to the club's budget, and some of the highest ticket prices (at the oldest venue, no less) in the league. Fueling the fire: a perception of double standards and inconsistent enforcement, with fans quickly taking to social media to note an ongoing informal postgame fireworks tradition by the Barra Brava supporters group.
“They keep making up rules,” Parsons told DCist via email. “I have never seen anywhere that smoke is not allowed outside the stadium.”
Perhaps most frustrating of all, the alleged infraction of stadium policy took place in the midst of a “gathering of the tribes/unity march” intended to patch up long-simmering rifts between United's supporters groups and rally the wider fan base at a time of transition for their club.
“It was proposed that all four [supporters groups] would march into the stadium together as a show of strength, unity, and general noise to pump up the crowd,” District Ultras member Matthew Eide told DCist on Monday. “After tailgating separately, the four groups gathered under the bridge [at Independence Avenue SE] at Lot 8, sang songs, beat drums, danced—you know—celebrated their club.
“Then we all marched in, drums blazing, scarves up, singing etc and after partying in the [RFK] concourses (where there was NO smoke) we moved to our respective sections for the match. To my knowledge, none of the other [supporters groups] have been sanctioned. DU members are rightly pissed, and frankly sick of being scapegoated by [United],” Eide said.
Known for their elaborate prematch “tifo” banner displays, the District Ultras sit near RFK's northeast corner, a few sections over from the Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles groups on the stadium's “loud side.”
Speaking on background, a United source said that the severity of the punishments were shaped in part by Parsons' prominence among the District Ultras, noting that he and other leaders were briefed on the club's expectations for its supporters groups before the season began. A copy of United's code of conduct for supporters, obtained by DCist, does indeed ban the use of smoke by supporters, though the policy does not indicate whether it applies to the stadium itself or the surrounding grounds. Though fireworks that explode are considered illegal in the
District of Columbia, smoke bombs are not specifically mentioned as a prohibited item in D.C.'s fireworks ban (potassium cholrate, which is present in some, bot not all smoke bombs, is prohibited.)
The United source also added that some patrons complained about the smoke, some stating that they felt ill.
"It's annoying because they're trying to single out guy who drives three hours to games and [helps] to make tifo on off weeks," added Srdan Bastic, another senior member of the Ultras. "He has more away games at his own expense than [all of] DCU's staff since 1996, combined. This is why groups have such insane turnover—It's like people get paid to f**k with us while we pay to get f***ed with."
The incident fits into a recurring pattern across MLS, which celebrates and advertises the unique passion of its most dedicated fans yet also draws their ire when club and stadium security officialsreact negatively to the noise and spectacle they tend to create.
