Major League Soccer has fined LA Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget an undisclosed amount and suspended him for two matches for the use of a homophobic slur in an Instagram post on April 9, the league announced Friday. Lletget will also be required to attend diversity, equity and inclusion training through Athlete Ally. Â
Lletget will serve the two-game suspension during the Galaxy’s next two regular season MLS matches, against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday (5:30 pm ET | FS1, Fox Deportes) and against Seattle Sounders FC on May 2.
In a statement, MLS added that it "acknowledges and appreciates Lletget’s prompt apology and the accountability he has taken for his actions."
Lletget, who used the slur in a video he posted to his Instagram account, deleted the post and issued an apology.
"I messed up and I'm trying to take full responsibility for it," Lletget said. "I said a word that shouldn't have been said. And although there's been a lot of discussion and debate about the meaning of the word because of different dialects in Spanish and cultures, the truth is it's a harmful word and it shouldn't have been said.
"This was a poor decision on my end and it was a moment of just pure stupidity. I'm a human, I made a mistake and that's simply what happened. But now I want to rectify that."
