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On Wednesday, the Kansas City Cauldron, the largest supporters group for Sporting Kansas City, issued a statement on the inadequate and frankly appalling suspension that Major League Soccer issued to Alejandro Romero Gamarra, better known as Kaku.
Here is the statement in its entirety:
A statement from our organization about the insufficient response by @MLS to the Kaku's reckless actions.#NoOtherClub pic.twitter.com/mkTV1AJjEh
— The Cauldron (@KCCauldron) April 25, 2019
“In October 2017 an Atlanta fan hit who hit a referee with a cup of beer and was arrested, charged, and banned for life from games. An action that was considerably less dangerous than what took place in Kansas City had much more dire consequences for a less egregious act.”
“The punishment given to Kaku for putting a Kansas City fan at risk of serious harm was the same kind of punishment given to players time and again for using inappropriate language on the pitch. It does not compare.”
“MLS had a great opportunity to stand up and make it clear that acts which put fans in danger are unacceptable with consequences that truly send a message to everyone in the league that they are responsible for their actions regardless of intent. In this moment they have failed.”
“We are here to advocate for supporters the lifeblood of this league. All of the marketing campaigns about ‘not crossing the line’ do not mean anything if a reckless and dangerous act is met with a slap on the wrist.”
“MLS are the stewards of the league for the club we love. We are asking that they make good on their talk of zero tolerance against unacceptable behavior with sufficient action.”
Look no further than the comments on that tweet to see the outrage of fans over this incident.
If you have been asleep the last two weeks, Kaku intentionally kicked a ball into the stands from close range and struck a fan. The TBT community weighed in and expected a much longer suspension. Peter Vermes, Ilie Sanchez and others on Sporting KC made it clear, “that should not be tolerated.” Then MLS released a meager two game suspension on top of the red card received.
The Blue Testament will continue to bring updates as they are available. The health of the fan is still unconfirmed other than rumors that vary from ‘just a bloody nose’ to ‘surgery.’ When we have something more concrete about his injuries, we’ll bring it to you.
Kaku has “accepted this suspension” according to his statement released on Twitter.
I apologize again for my actions and accept this suspension from MLS. I will do my best to learn from this and become a better person and player. For now, I will continue to work hard in training and do what I can to make sure my teammates are prepared for these matches.
— kaku (@kakuromero17) April 24, 2019