HBO's Real Sports focused on a lawsuit against Chivas USA (Getty Images)
Last night was not a good night in terms of publicity for Chivas USA and Major League Soccer. HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" ran a 20 minute piece on a lawsuit filed by two former Chivas USA youth coaches, Teddy Chronopoulos and Dan Calichman, that alleges that they were dismissed from their positions because they weren't Mexican or of Mexican descent.
Both the lawsuit and the Real Sports segment focus on the time period since Jorge Vergara, who owns Liga Mx's Chivas de Guadalajara, bought the team. According to the lawsuit, since that time, Chivas USA have undergone a systematic effort to eliminate personnel that weren't Mexican or of Mexican descent. It's alleged that in his first address to the team and staff, Vergara spoke only in Spanish until he realized that not all of his staff spoke Spanish, he then commented, in English, that if you didn't speak Spanish, you should go work for the Galaxy. Another gentleman commented that if you speak against Vergara, that you are speaking against Mexico and are regarded as a racist.
Soledad O'Brien also explored the effects of this on Chivas USA's academy, where Chronopoulos and Calichman coached. A mother of a former Chivas youth player provided Real Sports with a questionaire that was given to kids and parents where the parents not only had to ethnically identify the child but the child's mother and father as well. This was a little disturbing.
According to the lawsuit, Chronopoulos and Calichman filed a complaint with Chivas USA's Human Relations department and were then promptly dismissed from their positions.
Also interviewed was DC United's James Riley, who was traded away from Chivas USA. Riley, who is half African-American and half Korean, alleges that he was traded from the club because he was not of Mexican descent. Real Sports is following the stories of 17 different players who have been jettisoned from the club since Vergara took over that were not of Mexican descent. They were largely, if not totally, replaced by Mexican personnel. This includes former head coach Robin Fraser, who was replaced by El Chelis. The parents of the youth player interviewed for the piece have moved their son to the LA Galaxy U-12 Academy, where he is now captain.
Real Sports requested an interview with Vergara, but the club denied this request, instead giving O'Brien 15 minutes with technical director Paco Palencia. The interview ended abruptly when O'Brien's questions became a little too pointed.
The piece was unquestionably ugly and very bad press for MLS. Gumbel and O'Brien ventured the guess that Chivas USA see it as a marketing tool to the large Mexican population in LA, or that perhaps it's all a cultural misunderstanding. The problem is, that even if this is the case, being ignorant of employment laws regarding discrimination in the United States doesn't make you exempt from following them, and it certainly looks like these two men deserve their day in court, though it is understandable that MLS and Chivas USA are not going to comment given the ongoing lawsuit. Alexi Lalas said on Twitter today that he asked Commissioner Garber about it, and Garber said that while the piece raises serious issues, he can't really comment because of the litigation.
Also, yes, most job applications in the United States require you to list your ethnicity, generally for affirmative action purposes, however in my opinion, requiring this info on children is a bit beyond the absurd. Also, I think anyone would be a little suspicious of an employment application that asked you to validate the ethnic identity of your mother and father.
In the end, I'm just left wondering how Major League Soccer let it come to this. Not to mention, did they not see this coming when they hooked up with Chivas de Guadalajara. I get that in Mexico, Chivas is largely seen as a national symbol of Mexican pride and that these practices are considered to be perfectly legitimate, but this is not Mexico. It is also unquestionable that if an MLS franchise ditched all their ethnic players and hired only white players and staff.......well it doesn't take much imagination to think of the PR scandal that would rightly follow.
Anyone who pays attention to, or closely follows MLS saw this coming. None of it is news. it became more obvious with every offseason move made by the Goats. Didn't that send a red flag up with SOMEBODY at League Headquarters? Perhaps they were too concerned about YSA and NY2 to notice what seems to be pretty blatant discrimination in one of their already existing franchises.
Personally, they could shutter Chivas USA tomorrow and I would be fine with it. The franchise is a joke. Despite touting the superiority of their Mexican based system, they remain in last place. Their attendance is down even further, if that's possible. Their constant ineptness, on the pitch and off, have made them the laughing stock of the league. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake, who came into the league at the same time, and in a much smaller market, have managed to win an MLS Cup and build a yearly contender featuring an extremely diverse roster. Chivas USA is the poster child for how not to run an MLS side.
The league needs to deal with this. I shudder to think of what a non MLS fan thought of that piece. It makes soccer continue to look like a foreign game with backwards views and attitudes. Nothing was mentioned of the other 18 MLS teams with hugely diverse rosters. It was UGLY. Meanwhile, El Chelis took to twitter to bash Grant Wahl, calling him "the KKK." He also asserted that gringos were the kings of racism and discrimination. Yeah Chelis, you classless hack, that's going to help everything. This coming from the guy who wouldn't shake the hands of Jason Kreis or RSL's staff after his team got pummeled.
If I can touch on the political for just a moment, this race crap has to stop. Its sad to think that we haven't moved past this stuff in 2013. That goes for anyone who thinks that their race is superior to another. I don't care if you're white, black, hispanic, asian, or anything else, if you view yourself as superior to another human because of your race, you are part of the problem. If you view your race as superior to another race on the basis of the blood flowing through your veins, you are part of the problem. At some point we have to move beyond this, though my hopes aren't high. As author Michael Shaara states in the book "The Killer Angels:"
"There's many a man worse than me, and some better, but I don't believe that race or country matter a damn!"
We're all human and what unites us can be so much stronger than what divides us. I wish we could see that.
Finally, on a personal note, I do feel for the Chivas USA supporters, those troopers who show up to every match. They must know that this is not going to end well for their club, and they shouldn't be lumped in with Vergara and his numpties. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks.
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