Dear #AOFamily,

On Friday the largest U.S. supporters section in our nation’s soccer history will come together for our men’s national team as they open the final round of World Cup Qualifying against old friends, Mexico.

8000 American Outlaws members (nearly one-third of the stadium!) will stand to support our boys in red, white, and blue. We will also stand in support for inclusivity and respect.

Our organization has always prided itself on the passionate positivity that we’ve brought to our sections. Our actions, our chants, our members and their guests should focus on lifting up our team and its supporters rather than tearing down our opponents and their fans.

As a massive 30,000+ organization we are certainly not without our flaws and our bad apples, but our group has always strived to learn, grow, and change so we can represent the best of our country: diversity, tolerance, and openness. We shall endeavor to be no different on Friday.

Since our last World Cup Qualifying meeting with Mexico back in 2013 our organization has made tremendous strides in articulating and enforcing what it means to be a passionately positive member of the #AOFamily. We made massive revisions to our “Act Above - Code of Conduct”; taking queues from some of North America’s and the world’s leading supporters groups. We instituted a new event and in-stadium program called “AO Watch” to provide reporting tools for those in our section a system to get fan services and deal with any incidents in real time or investigate afterwards. Lastly, we’ve strongly enforced the ethos of our Code of Conduct issuing warnings, probations, and outright bans to members to hold them accountable for their actions.

What we ask of each and every one of those in our sections and at our events is not much; just basic human decency: no racism, no sexism, no homophobia, no discrimination, no physical or verbal attacks. It’s pretty simple. Follow this and you’re welcome in our sections and at our events.

We will not tolerate any member or guest who cannot abide by what we’ve laid out in our Code of Conduct. With the assistance of U.S. Soccer and MAPFRE Stadium any one in violations of “Act Above” will be subject to removal from our section and the stadium.

Use the following tools to report any incidents to AO Watch or seek stadium personnel for assistance:

- Find an AO Watch member with a bright yellow badge

- Webform

- Email: aowatch@theamericanoutlaws.com

- Phone: (475-2CALLAO… 475-222-5526)

For 240 years our nation has stood as a shining beacon for the rest of the world to aspire to. In 1944 Woody Guthrie recorded his famous folk song and encapsulated what it should be to be an American and what we think is an American Outlaw; “This land is your land, This land is myland, From California to New York island, this land was made for you and me.”

Join us in supporting our national teams and our opponents with respect and passionate positivity.

NOTE: On Friday, immediately after the tifo has dropped your section chant leaders will begin to lead you in a chorus of “This Land Is Your Land”. It will repeat several times starting slowly and building up. The lyrics will be on the back of your chant sheet or here:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From the California to the New York island

From the Redwood Forest, to the gulf stream waters

This land was made for you and me

XOXO,

AO