On Nov. 7, MLS announced it was suspending Philadelphia Union defender Kai Wagner for three games after an investigation confirmed that he had directed a racial slur at New England Revolution forward Bobby Wood during a match Oct. 28. The suspension marked the third time this season -- and fourth in the past 15 months -- that the league had investigated an allegation of player-on-player racial abuse.
There are more documented cases of player-on-player racial abuse in North American soccer than in other parts of the global game's ecosystem.