SOUTHSIDERS STAY NORTH
Whitecaps supporters cancel U.S. bus trips over Trump travel ban
It’s now a turf war where no one gets left behind.
The Southsiders, the diehard Vancouver Whitecaps support group, has advised members they will not be organizing bus trips to MLS games in Seattle and Portland following the executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump that bans travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations entering the States for 90 days.
Despite wanting to keep politics out of their beloved game, the Southsiders executive decided that some of their members fall into the new U.S. travel restrictions and would be left behind if they organized trips to MLS games in America.
“Some of our members are directly affected by this ban and we know for sure they won’t be able to go into the United States,” said Peter Czimmermann, president of the Southsiders. “It was a hard decision to make, but it is about us as a group.”
Caps president Bob Lenarduzzi said the support group informed them of their decision.
“It is disappointing, we prefer to have our fans in the stands at the road games,” he said.
He said the Southsiders have made their decision and been very up front about why. “I think in this case they have gone about it in the right way,” he said.
The Southsiders have about 700 members and Czimmermann said close to a dozen would be denied entry to the U.S. under the new ban. The Trump executive order was signed Friday and bars travellers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days. Officials in the new U.S. administration have indicated Trump is prepared to expand the ban beyond those seven countries if necessary.
Last year, the Southsiders sent three busloads of Whitecaps fans to Seattle and two more to Oregon for a Portland game.
In a statement on their website, the Southsiders board of directors note the supporters group was founded on the principles of inclusivity, acceptance and respect. “The executive board shall not co-ordinate any bus trips to the U.S. until such time that the current conditions at border crossings have changed. We cannot in good conscience be responsible for arranging or hosting events or experiences which potentially come at the exclusion of some of our members, no matter how few in number those affected might be.”
The group isn’t calling for a boycott of U.S. visits, but are asking members who travel to see the Caps play in the U.S. to leave their beersoaked Southsiders scarves at home “as a sign of respect for members who cannot cross the border with the same ease and personal freedom as you do.”
The Whitecaps are currently on a tour of Wales, and are scheduled to participate in a preseason tournament in Portland from Feb. 9-15.
Lenarduzzi said that from a roster perspective they have no players from the seven banned countries — and said none of the other MLA teams have anyone from those countries singled out by Trump.
“There isn’t a player in MLS that it affects,” he said.
“It has certainly created a lot of havoc,” he said of the Trump executive order.
Czimmermann held out a lastditch hope that Trump’s decision is reversed, but said time is running out because they have to order the buses for the trips well in advance.
“We continue to monitor the situation,” he said. “It was a hard decision to make because there is nothing more we want to do than go to the Whitecaps games in the U.S.”
Alex Caulfield, a spokesman for the Seattle Sounders, said they have been referring calls to the MLS head office in New York.
“We are politely declining comment,” he said.
Calls to the MLS head office manager of communications weren’t returned. The Portland Timbers as well didn’t return calls.
The MLS regular season starts March 3.