SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Loyal forfeited a United Soccer League match Wednesday night in protest against an anti-gay slur apparently hurled at one of its players.
The comment toward Collin Martin, who is openly gay, was said to be made near the end of the first half of the match against Phoenix Rising at Torero Stadium.
Martin's teammates were seen rallying around him as they walked off the field at halftime.
Martin is a former member of Minnesota United and came out in June 2018. At the time, he was the only openly gay player in the major men's professional sports leagues in the United States.
"I never thought that was completely important because I thought it'd been done before," Martin said in an interview with the Star Tribune that summer. "But, I mean, you look around, there's still not an out professional athlete in the five major sports in America … right now. So it's still important."
When they came back out for the second half, Loyal's players and coaches took a knee and then walked off, thereby forfeiting the match. Loyal was winning 3-1 at the time.
"SD Loyal forfeited the match in support of Martin and the diversity that the club stands for within its community," the club said.
Landon Donovan, who owns and coaches the San Diego team , could be seen in a heated confrontation with Phoenix head coach Rick Schlantz over how to proceed before joining his players in the walk-off.
