Following the antisemitic incident: The Canadian club took action against the fans
Two weeks after two of its fans shouted "Death to Israel" at Dor Turgeman during an MLS match, Montreal suspended them indefinitely and also punished the fan organizations: "There is no place for antisemitism, racism, and hatred of any kind."
Exactly two weeks after the incident during which two fans shouted antisemitic slogans at Dor Turgeman during a Montreal match against the New England Revolution in the MLS, the Canadian club took a significant and declarative step against those fans and suspended them indefinitely. In addition, before the match tonight (between Saturday and Sunday) against D.C. United (1:1, Tai Baribo scored for D.C.), the club decided to cancel the privileges of the fan organizations, while the fan section from which the shouts were heard will be restricted for an indefinite period.
"There is no place for antisemitism, racism, and hatred of any kind in Montreal, at Saputo Stadium, or in our community," read an official statement from the club. "We sincerely apologize to New England and anyone affected by this unacceptable behavior. We will continue our efforts to identify other individuals who were involved. Any person found to have participated in the antisemitic shouts or any form of discriminatory behavior will be permanently banned from club events."
The incident in question occurred during the 2:2 draw between the teams two weeks ago, when Turgeman scored his fourth goal of the season and went to celebrate in front of the local stands, after claiming he heard shouts of "Death to Israel" from them. The celebration led to a confrontation on the pitch, when Montreal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza ran towards the Israeli striker and pushed him. Within seconds, a brawl developed between the players of both teams, and the referee had to intervene.
After the match, Turgeman told his friends: "I am at peace with what happened. From the first moment, I heard 'Death to Israel' in the stands. This is not something that happens to me in games in the USA, only in Canada. Israel is above all for me. I am proud of my Israeli identity and the national team I represent, so I made a gesture to them that I do not hear their curses and hatred towards my country. All my friends supported me, I would do the same thing again. It's just a pity we didn't win, that was more important."
Breza also addressed the confrontation and said: "I felt that I wanted to get the crowd into the game. I wanted to ignite the atmosphere in the stands and get the crowd to push our guys."
