‘It’s unacceptable’: FC Cincinnati’s Alvas Powell receives racist messages

CINCINNATI (WXIX/ENQUIRER) - An FC Cincinnati defender is speaking out about several racist messages he received on social media after Saturday’s heartbreaking loss.

On Monday, FC Cincinnati right back Alvas Powell went to Instagram to talk about the hate he experienced online.

“I don’t even know where to start. After the game last night, I couldn’t sleep,” says Powell. “To encounter something like this in my DM, not just one but multiple messages from cowards hiding behind random profiles on social media, calling me a monkey.”

According to our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer, accounts with no avatar sent the following message to the player: “F*** you monkey, because you own goal.” It also included an animal, banana, middle finger and other emojis.

The messages Powell showed the Enquirer came into his direct messages on Saturday during the Columbus Crew game at 7:46 p.m.

This was around the same time Powell scored an own goal in the 75th minute of the Eastern Conference final, with FCC still in the lead 2-1.

“To go out of your way to call me a monkey and be racist, to me or anybody, I just think it’s unacceptable,” he said. “After working so hard for a club that I love, a fanbase that I love and shows me nothing but love, it hurt my feelings to see that. It was an emotional night for me. I’m at my very lowest point right now.”

Powell indicated that he is not the only player who has received racist messages.

The defender said a similar incident happened to “Dom” last week.

“It’s important to just remain humble and do everything in my power to [...] not let things like this get the best of me, but it’s a hard pill to swallow” Powell continued. “I love and appreciate all the people that reach out to me and show me love and support, thank you. This has no place in our game or anywhere.”

FC Cincinnati spoke about the incident on Monday.

Hours after Powell and FCC took to social media to condemn the racist acts, Major League Soccer issued the following statement.

Several other MLS groups and players shared their support as well.

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