Orlando City SC coach Oscar Pareja said his team wouldn’t have played against Nashville SC Wednesday night had they had “all the information and good timing,” in a conference call with reporters Thursday afternoon.
Of the six games scheduled Wednesday night, Orlando City’s home game against Nashville SC, the earliest scheduled on the night, was the only one played. The five others were postponed as MLS players joined other professional athletes to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
It started Wednesday afternoon when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court for their NBA playoff game against Orlando. In addition to MLS and the NBA, several WNBA and MLB games on Wednesday were also postponed.
Pareja pointed out he was fully supportive of the actions of the players and other teams to postpone their games. He also understands some of the social media backlash Orlando have received for the decision to play.
“I understand maybe some people who think we should have not played,” Pareja said. “I think we would have done it. I think we would have just not played the game if we had all the information and good timing. We didn’t know the whole thing.”
“We support their reactions and I totally agree with the fact that the teams didn’t want to play to raise our voices,” Pareja added, “We support and we’re part of that.”
