WASHINGTON – DC United forward Taxiarchis “Taxi” Fountas today expressed excited anticipation upon being awarded another punched hole on his racial abuse punch card – since he has now collected enough punched holes that his next one is free.
“In the year-and-a-half that I’ve played for [DC] United,” said Fountas, “I’ve diligently carried my punch card in my sock for every match, hoping to collect another punch. Finally, I have, and now I get my freebie!” His statement about his latest card punch appears to be referring to an incident in DC United training session earlier in the week, in which Fountas is reported to have directed a racial slur at teammate Nigel Robertha, which lead to a physical altercation between the two. It is not known where Fountas may have collected the eight other punches on his racial slur punch card – although insiders have speculated that at least one was collected during a match against Inter Miami in September, 2022, when Fountas was accused of racially abusing Inter defender Damion Lowe; MLS found that reports of that incident were “credible” but “could not be verified.” MLS officials, when reached for comment by the Nutmeg News, would not comment on whether a “credible but not verified” claim of racial abuse would qualify a player for a hole on their punch card.
Racial abuse punch cards have become a popular item for a segment of the MLS player pool, with Minnesota United winger Franco Fragapane and New York Red Bulls forward/winger Dante Vanzier being notable players who have made efforts to collect punches on their personal cards in the past few years. It is not known to what extent MLS provides these cards for players or circumstances in which players have been granted a “freebie” upon completion of their card – although several have speculated that Fragapane was granted his “freebie” in July, 2021, and used it to racially abuse Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Chara without consequence.
Racial abuse punch cards are a relatively new development in U.S. soccer, although like many U.S. soccer traditions, they have origins in Europe. For example, in Serie A – the top flight of Italian soccer – there is a decades-long tradition of issuing newly-signed players the carta per abusi razziali gratis (“Get Out Of Racial Abuse Free” card).
The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Fountas confuses his Free Frogurt card with his Racial Abuse Card and is asked to leave his local FroZenYo.