CONCACAF announced on Tuesday that it has sanctioned Costa Rican club Alajuelense for incidents of discrimination and breaches of safety protocol that occurred during the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal against the Montreal Impact on April 7 at Estadio Alejandro Moreno Soto.
The club was fined an undisclosed amount for discrimination by Alajuelense supporters against Montreal Impact players. A small segment of club supporters were heard directing monkey chants at the Impact’s Dominic Oduro before and during the match, from which Montreal advanced to the CONCACAF Champions League final.
Oduro published two tweets in the aftermath of the game about the verbal abuse he received at the stadium
Alajuelense was also fined a separate undisclosed amount for failing to secure the field from projectiles thrown from the crowd. Alajelense supporters were seen throwing several different objects onto the field, including cups, a shoe and a coin that struck Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush.
Additionally, the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee has issued a provisional ban on the Estadio Alejandro Moreno Soto. Should Alajuelense qualify for any future edition of the CCL, the club will not be allowed to play their next home match at the stadium.
According to CONCACAF, this is the first time that the confederation’s Disciplinary Committee has levied a fine for a discriminatory incident that occurred during Champions League play.
Montreal will look to become the first team in MLS history to win the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, when they host Club América at Olympic Stadium in the second leg of the CCL final (8 pm ET, Fox Sports 2 and UniMas in the US, SportsNet One and TVA Sports 2 in Canada).
