Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union
UPDATE: Today at 11:51 AM the Union issued a press release stating that MLS had re-opened the investigation and Tanner had been placed on administrative leave by the club
Philadelphia Union’s sporting director Ernst Tanner was investigated by MLS earlier this year following allegations of racist, sexist, and homophobic behavior, according to a report by Pablo Maurer in the Guardian. While he is no stranger to controversy, earning a fine from MLS for comments suggesting LAFC were breaking the salary cap in 2022 and drawing the ire of both fans and players alike with his utilitarian approach to outgoing transfers, this is a far more serious situation.
In his article, Maurer includes statements and evidence from the MLS Players Association’s complaint as well as separate allegations. Tanner reportedly made multiple misogynistic comments about female referees, made derogatory comments about Black players and referees, touched a co-worker inappropriately, and hired an underqualified, abusive coach for Union II.
Tanner has denied the allegations.
In a statement to the Guardian, the Union said that Tanner was found to have made potentially insensitive gender-based comments early in his tenure, for which he underwent training and had discussions with club leadership, and that they were not previously aware of the allegations in the MLSPA complaint.
“The Philadelphia Union takes all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and is unwavering in our commitment to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all players, staff, and members of our community,” the club said.
The entire article is worth reading in full. If you don’t have time, the Guardian also published a summary of the investigation: Ernst Tanner: What our investigation revealed about the Philadelphia Union’s Sporting Director.
This is still a developing situation but there are already rumors that it will result in Tanner leaving the club. Both the league, and the Union, have stated that the investigation could be re-opened, if presented with new information.
The Union are scheduled to host bitter rivals NYC FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday, Nov. 23.
Seriously, if the actions and statements reported in the article are even remotely accurate and verified, he should be fired immediately!
While this is very disturbing about Tanner, if true, it also reflects extremely poorly on the organization as a whole given the allegations of reports to HR not being acted upon.
This is all BS. Tanner is a very respectful director as evidenced by the players he has brought in. In my opinion this is all hearsay and should be dismissed by the league.
If we as an organization and fanbase gave a redemption story to fellow German Wagner, I could understand the internal support. both are incredibly valuable to the team. Kai has done his part to earn that chance.
Totally understand if the org and league finds this too much given the duration and accusations. just playing devil’s advocate in hoping that the original mandated sensitivity training and other corrective actions were enough to make Tanner a better person moving forward.
The timing of this report seems sus right before an important playoff game. And I thought the same thing about rumors circulating last week that Miami wants Kai. Is someone trying to get in our heads?
Innocent until proven guilty and all that. I guess we will all wait to see what the league’s new investigation finds.
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But if this is more-or-less accurate, it’s utterly appalling. Unlike Kai Wagner — who did a s***ty thing once, and was very contrite about it — this is repeated incidents, going back years, reported by many people, despite prior “sensitivity training”. If this is an true picture, I don’t know how he can possibly remain. It also a catastrophe, because Tanner is truly the secret sauce for this club. We may founder without him.