New York Red Bulls striker Dante Vanzeir 'walks away' after racial slur

April 12 - New York Red Bulls striker Dante Vanzeir (pictured) has taken a step back from playing for Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise New York Red Bulls 'to avoid distractions' following his use of a racial slur in the game with the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Belgian striker, who arrived this season from the Brussels club Union St Gilles with a record sum of 5 million euros, apologized for his behavior, indicating that he would accept the consequences. On Tuesday, the New York Red Bulls said: "Dante Vanzeir addressed his teammates this morning and, to avoid further distractions, will be away from the club until further notice."

The incident happened in the 54th minute of the game. San Jose forward Jeremy Ebobisse made the charges without specifying who was the source of the comments after the game.

Red Bulls head coach Gerhard Struber regretted not replacing Vanzeir immediately after the incident. "Although there was a lot of uncertainty at the time, with the information I know now, the right decision would have been to immediately remove Dante Vanzeir from the game," Struber said.

MLS has launched an investigation and issued a statement stating that "MLS has zero tolerance for abusive and offensive language and takes such allegations seriously."

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