By Andrew Warshaw
July 11 – Canadian police are investigating death threats sent on Twitter to the captain of one of the country’s leading clubs, Montreal Impact, which plays in the MLS. Midfielder Davy Arnaud is reported to have received threatening tweets after making a mistake that led to his team losing 4-3 at home to the Colorado Rapids in stoppage time.
Arnaud retweeted the message that said: “I hope your family dies in a fire.”
The author of the message is reported to be a local fan and Arnaud answered: “Wow. I know we lost and I made a mistake but I deserve this?”
Both the Impact and MLS filed a complaint with police, who have opened an investigation and will interview the individual concerned.
“The Impact is taking this incident very seriously and will not accept threats of any kind made by individuals in regards to its players coaches or administrative staff in order to ensure their safety,” the team said in a statement.
Arnaud is married with a young daughter and teammate Patrice Bernier called the threats unacceptable.
“You can have your opinion on a performance, good or bad,” Bernier was quoted as saying. “But when it passes the line and there are threats against your family, even though people may say they’re joking around, I don’t think it’s something that you can joke around with.
“You never know what could happen. People have to have (responsibility) for their words, what they say or what they put out on Twitter or social media. It’s important that they realize that you can’t just go out and make blatant attacks on a person or his family or anybody else.”
The Impact currently lead the MLS Eastern Conference midway through the regular season and Bernier said he, Arnaud and other Impact players had received messages of support from fans deploring the death threats.
The team’s Swiss coach Marco Schallibaum backed the decision to report the incident. “He makes a mistake maybe on the field, but you can’t make this against him,” said Schallibaum.
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