MLS Commissoner Don Garber apologized in an open letter to fans for not calling off Wednesday’s scheduled Red Bulls-DC United Eastern Conference semifinal game earlier. After the league refused the Red Bulls’ written request on Tuesday to postpone the game, there was a 40 minute delay last night before the 2,000 fans on hand were sent home, including 700 that had bussed up from D.C.
Here is the statement:
I want to apologize to all of our fans who were impacted by our decision last night to postpone the New York Red Bulls v D.C. United playoff game at Red Bull Arena. Many of you made great sacrifices to attend the game and we let you down.
Based on the weather forecasts earlier in the day, we believed that we could still play the game. As you know, soccer is played in inclement weather and we have cancelled very few games in the history of the League. In this case, however, we underestimated the severity of the storm and its effect on our ability to play, and ultimately the enormous impact it had on our fans who traveled to and from Red Bull Arena.
I have heard from many of you about our decision to wait until after the scheduled start time to postpone the game and I know that many of our fans believe that we should have made the decision earlier in the day or even the day before. In retrospect, I wish we had. Although I believe that our intent in trying to preserve the ability to play the match was well meaning, in the end we would have better served our clubs and our fans by making the decision earlier.
I can’t change what happened, but I can acknowledge when we make mistakes, even if we were well intentioned.
All of us at Major League Soccer have worked hard to earn your trust and support. You can count on us to continue to work tirelessly to retain it as we build the League.
Thank you.