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Deep Dive Investigation Outlines Accusations of Racist, Sexist, and Homophobic Behavior from Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner
Published:
Pablo Maurer is a longtime MLS writer who has worked for numerous high-level outlets over the years. He has the byline on a Tuesday story from The Guardian that outlines numerous misconduct allegations against Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner:
It’s a very long and very detailed story, but worth a read. The CliffsNotes is that Major League Soccer investigated claims of homophobic, racist, and sexist behavior:
17 sources have alleged numerous misbehaviors spanning nearly the entirety of Tanner’s seven-year tenure with the Union. These include six of the eight allegations in the MLSPA complaint for which the Guardian was able to find supporting evidence, including accounts from current and former Union employees. The Guardian can separately report additional allegations. Together, the claims suggest a different side of Tanner, who allegedly:
-Made multiple misogynistic comments, including saying “women don’t belong in men’s soccer” about a female MLS referee and telling a gathering of academy players that they “should never worry about a referee, unless she’s a woman.”
-Spoke about Black players “like they were subhuman” and suggested that Black referees “lack intelligence and capability.”
-Touched a co-worker inappropriately “numerous times,” an allegation for which he was reported to the Union’s HR department.
-Hired an underqualified coach who was allegedly abusive toward players on the Philadelphia Union II, the club’s reserve team that is used as a proving ground for young players from its thriving academy.
The story says that Tanner denied the accusations through his attorney. The Union confirmed that Tanner was subject to “training” for insensitive comments made “early in his tenure” and that MLS launched its own investigation after receiving a complaint from the players’ association. Maurer reports that “Tanner was never placed on leave after the investigation began in January because MLS couldn’t corroborate the claims against him. The investigation was closed this fall. However, the league told the Guardian in a statement that it had required Tanner to go through a “structured remedial program focused on professional workplace conduct” due to the seriousness of the allegations in the MLSPA complaint, and retains the right to re-open the investigation if more information is brought forward.”
Obviously the timing of this story is a mindfuck. The Union won the Supporters’ Shield with 66 points this season and face NYC FC at home this weekend in the conference semifinals. This has been one of their best seasons ever, and Tanner is arguably the best player-personnel executive in Major League Soccer. He’s the main reason why the Union are a really good Moneyball team these days, and no longer stink.
It will be interesting to see if these allegations coming into the public sphere reopen the MLS investigation, or lead to further action from Union ownership. My sense is that the Union’s fan base is not large enough or fervent enough to force an additional response from the league or the team, case in point, perhaps, the racism incident involving Kai Wagner that resulted in relatively-light punishment. If this was Portland, or Seattle, or one of those west coast teams with a large, vocal, and progressive fan base, then the groundswell in response would be overwhelming. But in Philadelphia, I’m not so sure. We’ll see. The key takeaway in all of this, I think, is that MLS and the Union both have already acted on these allegations, and that Tanner remains employed.
EDIT – MLS put out a statement explaining that they’re going to reopen the investigation:
EDIT 2 – he’s on administrative leave:
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com