Montréal Ultras Call To Mobilize and Protest 1st Half of Saturday Home Game

The Montréal supporters group, the Ultras, plan to boycott the first half of Saturday’s home game at Suputo Stadium, according to their website. The Vancouver Whitecaps will be the Impact’s opponent and will not be happy when they step onto the field today at 1:00 est.

Montreal fans are outraged at their team’s performance and Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos, who chose to play a group of bench players in the Nutrilite Voyageurs Cup Championship on Thursday.

As reported here, Montreal only needed to hold Toronto FC to 4 goals to allow their sister USL-1 team, the Vancouver Whitecaps, to win the tournament and represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League tournament. Instead, Toronto FC of MLS beat a heartless Impact side by a score of 6-1.

The Ultra’s web site had a message that said:

Following the disgraceful performance by the Impact of Montreal versus Toronto FC, the Montreal Ultras have decided to denounce this lack of respect towards the Montreal public. We invite all the members into 114 and to elsewhere support them in this step.
As our team decided to play only half a game last Thursday, the Montreal Ultras have decided to support them for only one half this Saturday when they play the Whitecaps of Vancouver. We the Ultras will not be present in the first half of the game.

We invite you to Brewery 99, where we will look at the first half together, before returning to the stadium in time for the second half.

The Ultras of Montréal are not the only ones unhappy with Montreal’s uninspired play on Thursday. Many Montreal and Vancouver fans were also upset by the team Montreal decided to put on the field. Many are posting on blogs they feel the game may have been fixed in order to allow Toronto FC to win so MLS can have another team in the CONCACAF Champions League tournament. According to their comments, this would then allow Montreal a better chance of moving into MLS in the coming years.

While supporter frustration is expected, even those in the media are upset by the decisions and play of the Impact. Jeremy Filosa editorialized for CKAC Sports that it would be “difficult to believe that the players of the Impact will be able to look at the players of Whitecaps in the eyes,” on Saturday.

He went on to say that Whitecaps coach Teitur Thordarson told CKAC at halftime of Thursdays game, that he was disappointed that Montreal was not playing their first team.

Filosa also said that even if the Impact had decided to play reserve team players, “There was no reason for this team to let Toronto FC come to make fun of them by allocating 6 goals.”

The lineup on Thursday included only two players who started against Toronto in a 1-0 loss on May 13 to open the four-game round-robin.

“There were a lot of replacements on the field, but anyone who the Impact signs to play has the quality to play,” said Marc Dos Santos after Thursday evening’s game. “I don’t think that player A, B or C did bad. I think it was collectively our character.”

The Vancouver Sun reported that Vancouver President, Bob Lenarduzzi, sat at home in front of his television set on Thursday evening and watched in near shock as his Vancouver Whitecaps, almost certain to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League, were ousted from the tournament.

“Just extreme disappointment,” said the Caps president as the final whistle blew in Toronto FC’s gutsy 6-1 victory over the Montreal Impact, a result that made the Major Soccer League squad the Nutrilite Canadian champions on goal differential.