Former Newcastle United defender DeAndre Yedlin has powerfully spoken out powerfully following a racist controversy which has engulfed MLS. The Inter Miami star was on the pitch when team-mate Damion Lowe was allegedly subject to racist abuse during the clash with DC United on Sunday.
Lowe was involved in a heated second-half confrontation with rival forward Taxi Fountas, who was then accused of using racist language against the defender. Play was stopped for four minutes as managers Phil Neville and Wayne Rooney were called on to the pitch to talk to referee Ismail Elfath.
Inter Miami boss Neville raised the prospect of his team leaving the field, before DC United manager Rooney took the decision to substitute Fountas to allow the match to resume. England's all-time goalscorer has been widely praised for the call, with Neville described his opposite number as a 'class act' who has gone up in his 'estimation'.
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Greece international Fountas has since taken to social media to deny the allegations over 'despicable' language, while the MLS has confirmed an investigation will take place over the incident. Inter Miami went on to snatch a 3-2 away victory, with former Chelsea and Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain netting a 94th-minute winner.
Yedlin, who spent five years with the Magpies before leaving last year, insists the visitors were not prepared to continue the match unless action was taken. The USA international was then asked for his view on the ugly episode in his post-match interview.
Yedlin told the club's website: "I think it gives you perspective on life and just that there are things more important than what we're doing. At the end of the day, all of the guys that I'm playing with are not just my team-mates, they're human.
"They're not just humans, they're my brothers and as brothers and family, sometimes you have to go through adversity to realise how much you truly love each other. The way everyone banded together, you could really tell we genuinely are a family, and we genuinely do care about each other.
"At the end of the day, I think we'll be stronger from this. Unfortunately, things like this have to happen to sometimes get to that point.
"But I think we'll come back from stronger from this. This is a really dark time, and we have to try and do our best to get past it.
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