Fans Boo MLS Players Kneeling During National Anthem

Fans were back in attendance at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas

FC Dallas players kneel during the national anthem
FC Dallas players kneel during the national anthem.
Omar Vega/Getty Images

When FC Dallas hosted Nashville SC on Wednesday night in the first out-of-bubble MLS matchup of the league’s resumed season, some fans were in attendance at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

And, when players from both teams knelt during the playing of the national anthem to call attention to racial injustice, some of them booed.

“You can’t even have support from your own fans in your own stadium. It’s baffling to me,” said Dallas defender Reggie Cannon. “As a team, we try to give the best possible product on the field and these last six months have been absolute hell for us. Absolute hell.”

FC Dallas and Nashville SC have not played since the MLS regular season was suspended in March because they got the boot from the league’s bubble in Florida because of positive COVID-19 tests among players from both teams. Nashville won the game, 1-0.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that he plans for fans to be in attendance at AT&T Stadium once the NFL season begins next month, though he didn’t specify how many.

“We’ll adhere to all protocols and we will adapt to the uniqueness of our stadium and that’s within the protocol,” Jones said. “We have a real unique situation, and I think that we’re going to be able to really have a great experience. I think that our safety precautions that we’re doing won’t be unfamiliar to a lot of people when we look at the general protocol of the country or we look at how you get together numbers of people.”

AT&T Stadium has 80,000 seats but can hold more than 105,000 fans thanks to standing room.

Texas currently has an executive order setting a 50 percent capacity limit for venues in the state.

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