Youth players on a Nelson soccer team were allegedly threatened with racial slurs during a May tournament in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Nelson Soccer Association (NSA) says a person in a truck shouted racist threats at a team with players of colour during a game May 12. Multiple Nelson teams were visiting Coeur d'Alene at the time for an annual tournament.
A detective with Coeur d'Alene Police Department told the Nelson Star that it had opened an investigation and has since sent the case to a local prosecutor for review, but did not offer any further details.
It's the second time this year athletes have faced racial abuse in Coeur d'Alene. In March, a Utah women's NCAA basketball team said its players were twice threatened by people in a vehicle who shouted racial epithets.
NSA board chair Goran Denkovski said NSA was not previously aware of the March incident involving the basketball team. The organization hasn't made a decision on its future participation in Idaho tournaments, but Denkovski said NSA will begin assessing regional safety prior to making tournament commitments.
“We do all recognize that Idaho specifically, that state is a state of concern that we should acknowledge.”
Denkovski said the organization adheres to BC Soccer's diversity policy, but that it has no internal recourse for dealing with abusive spectators.
“This is something everybody takes serious and has programs in place to support and deal with. But when it comes to non-participants, it's something that we wish we could manage prior to and protect all the kids from. But it would be tough to manage that.”