Attempting to reach a third straight MLS Cup final, the Los Angeles Football Club seems poised to make another run in a league that comes off like it penalizes success.
Despite this trying reality, LAFC keeps finding ways to compete. Following a ton of roster turnover – again – the 2024 season ought to feel fresh yet familiar whether or not Carlos Vela returns. His status, of course, remains the biggest question about the upcoming season.
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What happened with the 3252 supporters sanctions?
Fans inside BMO Stadium should not notice anything different about the sights, sounds and feels coming out of the North End of the building, where the 3252 independent supporters union has earned a reputation as one of if not the most passionate and important drivers of fan culture in Major League Soccer.
Just don’t expect flares to pop off like the last match LAFC played at BMO Stadium during the Western Conference final against the Houston Dynamo.
For about a minute and a half last December, close to 20 supporters lit flares that cast a red glow onto them and their brethren in the standing section before billowing black smoke delayed kickoff.
Smoke wasn’t the issue. (BMO Stadium, like many MLS venues, accommodates “safe smoke,” which manifests on goals and at the start of matches with the consent of the Fire Marshal.) The incendiary nature of the flares and the way they were brought into the 22,000 seat venue was the trouble.
A few days later, MLS fined LAFC $100,000 and revoked the supporters group’s privileges for 2024.
The club, the venue and the league office established a working group that met weekly. They intended to identify anyone involved while reviewing security processes and supporter management.
The people who lit the flares were eventually ID’d or came forward. Each of them is suspended for 2024, and several, including some founding members, face lifetime bans that can be reviewed.
The club is beefing up security at…
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