Whitecaps players fined over game of pickup soccer in park
Vancouver Whitecaps forward Yordy Reyna and defender Jasser Khmiri have been fined and gone into 14-day self-quarantine after breaking physical-distancing protocols.
Reyna, a Peruvian international, was captured on video on Tuesday taking part in a pickup soccer game in a Vancouver park. The MLS club subsequently said that Khmiri, a Tunisia international, took part in the same game and announced he faced the same sanctions. Their fines will be donated to front-line workers, the club said.
The Whitecaps said Reyna, 26, was doing a personal workout when he came across the game. He knew two of the participants and took part in the game for about five minutes after he was invited to join in.
The game was being filmed by Global-TV as part of a report on local residents not following physical distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Someone at the club saw the report, which did not mention Reyna, but showed him briefly, and forwarded it to Axel Schuster, the club’s sporting director.
“He made a mistake, no question. He was very open about the whole issue,” Schuster said during a news conference call Wednesday. “He apologized immediately. He knew that he had done something wrong.”
Schuster called Reyna’s action unacceptable, especially when others are not following the rules when it comes to distancing as the weather improves and the public grows weary of restrictions.
“We have to be a role model,” Schuster said. “It’s even more important that we step up and say: ‘Hey, look how are we are doing these things.’ It was bad for a lot of reasons, what he did. But at the end, he’s a human being.”
Schuster said the club consulted the league before announcing the self-quarantine and sanction. He reminded his players “to respect the rules and to be very careful.” Schuster’s comments came before the club detailed 22-year-old Khmiri’s involvement.
MLS suspended the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, closing all team facilities. A league-wide moratorium on team training remains in effect until May 15. It’s unclear when the season might resume.
On Wednesday, the league opened the door to individual player workouts outdoors at team training fields, but only under strict guidelines. The Whitecaps are consulting with local authorities and the league on their protocol for individual workouts.