New England Revolution have formally condemned antisemitic abuse directed at forward Dor Turgeman during Saturday's MLS away match at CF Montréal, reporting the incident to league leadership and declaring "zero tolerance" for the behaviour.
The trouble unfolded at Stade Saputo, where the Israeli striker was targeted throughout the game by chants of "Death to Israel" and "Free Palestine" from sections of the Montreal crowd, according to multiple reports from the scene.
Turgeman, a 22-year-old from Ashdod who joined the Revolution from Maccabi Tel Aviv, answered in the 36th minute with a goal that put New England 2-0 up. He celebrated by turning to the hostile supporters, arms out, and cupping a hand to his ear; teammate Peyton Miller did the same alongside him.
Fans then threw objects, reportedly cups and bottles, onto the pitch. Montreal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza ran the length of the box to confront Turgeman and shoved him to the ground, sparking a brief scuffle between players from both sides. Breza was shown a yellow card.
The match itself finished level, CF Montréal fighting back for a 2-2 draw.
Breza later said he had pushed Turgeman simply to "energise" the home fans, while Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic said he was too far from the incident, 70 to 80 yards away by his own estimate, to say exactly what happened.
Turgeman was unrepentant about his celebration. He said the abuse does not happen at his team's games in the United States, "only in Canada," and added that "Israel is above everything for me." He said he had no regrets and would "do exactly the same thing again."
CF Montréal issued its own statement saying the club "does not tolerate discrimination or hateful behaviour of any kind" and that it was reviewing the incident in coordination with the Revolution and MLS.
New England Revolution went further in a formal club statement issued Monday. "There is zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination in our game, and this behaviour must be unequivocally condemned," the club said, adding that "no player should ever be subjected to abuse because of their race, ethnicity, religion or identity."
"Antisemitism and all forms of hate have no place in our sport, our stadiums or our communities," the statement continued, with the club saying it stands fully behind Turgeman and welcomes MLS's swift response to the complaint.
Turgeman arrived in New England last September in a reported $5.5 million move, one of the biggest signings in Revolution history, and has become a regular scorer for the club since making his debut.
