D.C. United’s Taxi Fountas investigated after racial slur allegation: What we know

Late Friday night, around the time that nearly every MLS fan in the country was watching Lionel Messi’s debut, D.C. United released a statement. In it, the club said it had placed two players — forwards Nigel Robertha and Taxi Fountas — on “paid administrative leave” while the league investigated “possible violations of league policy.”

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The club did not specify what those violations were, but The Athletic later learned that Fountas and Robertha had been involved in an altercation, with Robertha alleging that Fountas had directed a racial slur towards him, after which Robertha allegedly assaulted Fountas.

This is the second time that Fountas has been involved in such an investigation, as the Greek international was previously accused of using a slur during a match against Inter Miami last year. The league declined to discipline him in that instance, saying in a statement that while Miami’s allegations were credible, Fountas’ guilt couldn’t conclusively be proven.

Here’s what we know about the new investigation into Fountas and what could come next.

The current investigation stems from incidents that occurred during and after D.C. United’s match against the New England Revolution on July 15. In the 67th minute of that game, Fountas and Robertha exchanged words on the field, which was visible on the broadcast. This, according to multiple sources briefed on the investigation, is when Robertha alleges that Fountas used a racial slur — the “N-word” — at him. The two continued to argue, those sources said, until United forward Christian Benteke intervened. These and other sources in this story were granted anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

After the match, Fountas and