Players from Inter Miami and Atlanta United gather on the field before the postponement of their MLS soccer match Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Jim Rassol / AP Photo
Updated Aug. 26 at 10:09 p.m.
In a sign of solidarity with the Black community and in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Wisconsin, Atlanta United FC did not play Wednesday’s scheduled match against Inter Miami CF in Florida.
Atlanta United announced shortly after 8 p.m. that the match in Fort Lauderdale would not go on.
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) August 27, 2020
Shortly after Atlanta United announced they would forgo the match, Major League Soccer also tweeted out a statement of support to the Black community including MLS staff and players.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 26, 2020
Atlanta United officials say the match is only postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date.
United midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said, “We want to let all of the fans know that we made a collective decision between both lockers rooms to not play tonight to stand-up and fight for social change.”
Multiple other MLS, MLB, WNBA and NBA games did not go on as planned Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks decision to skip a playoff game against Orlando Magic earlier in the day started a ripple effect across American major league sports teams.
