Photo by Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports

By CARL SETTERLUND

Montreal Impact winger Dominic Oduro didn’t back down to racism when he was confronted with monkey chants by fans of the Costa Rican club Alajuelense earlier in April during the Impact’s CONCACAF Championship League semifinal away leg down at the Estadio Alejandro Moreno Soto.

On Tuesday, CONCACAF came down hard on Alajuelense, issuing two separate undisclosed fines and a one-game stadium ban for its next home match, should the club qualify for the tournament again.

“For CONCACAF to come out and put a sanction on them, I think that’s the right thing to do,” Oduro said at a Tuesday press conference ahead of Wednesday’s CCL final at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. “I think we are in this together. We are trying as much as possible to eradicate racism in the sports that we love. For them to do that, kudos to them for bringing the hammer down. I hope every other team around CONCACAF, or around the world, will learn from this.”

The CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee fined Alajuelense for discrimination by Alajuelense supporters toward Montreal Impact players, while the club was also fined for not following safety protocol and failing to secure the field as people in attendance threw items such as cups, shoes and coins.

“It’s something that I went through and hopefully it doesn’t happen again,” Oduro said. “It takes away the fun of the game. I think we are all in this to enjoy this beautiful game and for some of the fans to do that was just uncalled for.”

CONCACAF said this is the first time it has had to levy a fine for discrimination during CCL play, but that the ruling reinforces its zero-tolerance policy toward racism.

What did you think about the sanctions CONCACAF levied on Alajuelense? What punishment would you have suggested? What did you think of Oduro’s comments?

Share your thoughts below.