Six D.C. United supporter groups will continue their planned protest to not organize any singing or chanting during the team’s first four home games in response to its preseason trip to Saudi Arabia, despite meeting with managing owner Jason Levien.
Don Rankin of Buzzard Point Social told WTOP via email that a last-minute meeting took place on Wednesday between Levien and selected members of the involved supporter groups. Levien told supporters D.C. United did not receive money for going to the Middle East, adding the club covered some of the costs for the January trip.
Club officials offered supporters the chance to meet with a Saudi ambassador, but it was quickly shot down by those who attended, Rankin said.
A club official confirmed to WTOP a meeting took place but declined to comment further.
Preseason camp ✅
Thank you for having us, Saudi Arabia! 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/zFhXP6BX9z
— D.C. United (@dcunited) February 11, 2024
Three supporter group members that attended the meeting told the RFK Refugees Podcast that club officials said there are “no plans right now” to continue a partnership with Saudi Arabia after this year. However, no guarantee was given by Levien or other club officials in attendance if United would engage with Saudi Arabia or teams in the Saudi Pro League in the future.
“It’s the precedent they are setting,” Angus Long, of Buzzard Point Social, said. “There were things said and ways to deflect from the conversation that didn’t really add up when you see the whole truth.”
United spent over two weeks in the Middle Eastern country, playing four exhibition matches against Saudi-based teams while training at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. The Washington Post reported that if the experience went well, United would welcome Saudi clubs to Audi Field for exhibitions as part of a business partnership with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
On Monday, days before the start of the 2024 MLS regular season, five of D.C.’s supporter groups — District Ultras, Rose Room Collective, 202 Unique, La Banda del Distrito and Buzzard Point Social — said they will refrain from their usual atmospheric support, banging drums and bringing flags, for four matches as a sign of protest for the trip.
The Screaming Eagles, United’s largest supporters group, said in a separate statement it will stand in solidarity with the protest and make donations to human rights causes.
Banners in support of the protest will be the only items on display in Audi Field’s supporter section, which holds between 1,500 to 2,000 fans, Rankin told WTOP.
“The club’s stated values of being ‘relentless, deliberate and decisive’ must also include a deliberate respect for human rights,” the statement posted by Buzzard Point Social said.
Prior to the meeting with Levien, Rankin told WTOP the Saudi government’s treatment toward women and the LGBTQ+ community, along with the 2018 assassination of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, motivated several members of Buzzard Point Social to call for United to answer their concerns. Once the decision to protest was made, Rankin said members reached out to the other fan groups for solidarity in numbers.
“We want to make sure that any marginalized group knows we have their back and that they are welcome in this community,” Rankin said. “We feel like that message from D.C. United, taking their money and going over there, that made them feel like outsiders, like they may not belong with the community. But they do.”
During his media availability Thursday, United head coach Troy Lesesne said he and new general manager Ally Mackay had a two-hour meeting with supporter group leaders a week ago. He added all preseason decisions were made before the pair arrived to D.C.
“I have a lot of respect and admiration for our supporters,” Lesesne said. “Ultimately, the decision that they made, we have respect for that, and we want to make sure that we try to have the right action behind improving any situations that we have control over.”
The first protest will take place during United’s home opener against the New England Revolution on Saturday with supporters planning to distribute fliers to alert fans arriving to Audi Field.
One of the games included in the protest is United’s match against Inter Miami and Argentine star Lionel Messi on March 16. Miami spent part of its offseason playing in Saudi Arabia but did not receive as much blowback from its fans. Rankin said some Miami supporters have reached out in support of D.C.’s protest, adding “all eyes are on us” for how fans will act during the match.
“We want to provide the best atmosphere, but we have to make a point,” Rankin said. “We can’t let this type of blood money come into our club, and we’ve got to make sure that they know that it’s not OK.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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