Tonight’s Inter Miami CF match against Atlanta United FC at Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale has been postponed in response to player protests sweeping the country.
The postponement was the first in Major League Soccer. A match between Nashville SC and Orlando City SC scheduled for 7:30 p.m. kicked off as scheduled. The Inter match was scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff.
Tonight’s #InterMiamiCF game vs. @ATLUTD has been postponed.
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) August 27, 2020
“Black Players for Change asked us not to play, and I think at that point we respect them and we have to respect why we wear these [Black Lives Matter] shirts,” Inter Miami CF defender A.J. DeLaGarza told Inter Miami CF’s Kaylyn Kyle on the team’s broadcast after the match. “And that’s to make a change and to have our voices heard.”
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 26, 2020
The announcement was just the latest in a turbulent day in the world of sports, kicked off by the Milwaukee Bucks’ wildcat strike of its NBA Playoffs game against the Orlando Magic, originally scheduled for 4 p.m. The Bucks’ move was prompted by the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wis. police officer Rusten Sheskey in the back seven times.
“Athletes have a huge platform, and we have to use that right now,” DeLaGarza said.
AJ DeLaGarza on tonight’s CBS My33 broadcast:
“We have to respect them and we have to respect why we wear these shirts, and that’s to make a change…
“I think we had to make a very tough decision in front of our coaches minutes before walking out here.”#InterMiamiCF #MLS pic.twitter.com/5eE2KqrIU0
— Franco Panizo (@FrancoPanizo) August 27, 2020
Stay with Magic City Soccer as this story updates.
