The Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes participated in a brief Black Lives Matter display before the start of Friday night’s MLS is Back Tournament game at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.
Players and coaches from both teams wore Black Lives Matters T-shirts, with the team captains featuring the letters BLM on their armbands.
Players from both teams knelt before the opening kickoff, extending an arm in the air in support.
The display continues the theme of social justice in the league’s return to action after play was halted in March by the coronavirus pandemic.
Prior to Wednesday’s initial tournament game between Orlando City SC and Inter Miami FC, more than 100 Black MLS players stood on the pitch in silence for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, with raised fists, while the starters from both teams knelt in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The length of time coincided with how long a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the incident.
–Field Level Media
