Louisville City and FC Cincinnati at odds over security's treatment of fans at Slugger Field

Here we go again.

Rival clubs Louisville City FC and FC Cincinnati are at odds once more, this time over alleged mistreatment of Cincinnati fans during Saturday's 5-0 Louisville City victory at Slugger Field.

FC Cincinnati fans who were sitting in the front row of the visiting supporters' section allege they were unfairly removed from the match for throwing streamers, but said they were never told prior to the match that streamers were prohibited.

In a statement released Wednesday and reviewed by the United Soccer League, Louisville City defended security's decision to remove the FC Cincinnati fans.

"In accordance with the USL’s guidelines, action was taken to escort a number of FC Cincinnati supporters from a section of the stadium in the interests of player and public safety," the statement said. "The decision was agreed to in consultation with FC Cincinnati’s supporter liaison and followed previous incidents in which projectiles were thrown."

A report written by ESG Security said a supervisor gave fans a verbal warning about throwing streamers onto the field and told them they would be ejected if it persisted.

"(The) Cincinnati support group said that they understood," the report continued. "During the last 10 minutes of the game, the first row of the Sections 129-130 threw streamers onto the field (near the) player bench."

The fans were then escorted out of the stadium by ESG Security and on-site Louisville Metro Police officers. LMPD spokesman Dwight Mitchell said no citations were issued and no arrests were made.

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FC Cincinnati supporter Amy Haug told the Courier-Journal she and her husband were among the fans escorted out of the front row. She said streamers were thrown down onto the pitch at kickoff, and that an employee on the field wearing a purple Louisville City shirt told fans they would be kicked out if they continued to do so.

"Throughout the game, a few streamers made it down. And when I say a few, literally only a few ended up falling on left field again," Haug said. "I don't know who did it. I couldn't see who did it, but I know it was none of us in the front row."

FC Cincinnati supporter Jim Gegner said he has previously had great experiences at Louisville Slugger Field for both Louisville City and Louisville Bats games. He said Saturday's incident was akin to punishing many for the actions of a few.

"I drove by myself in my own vehicle two hours south down (Interstate 71), and bought a ticket to come support my team for an away match and ultimately support Lou City revenue by buying a ticket," he said, "and instead I'm escorted from my seat for simply being in the first row."

FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding blasted security's "heavy-handed" conduct in a tweet sent Monday.

Reached by phone Wednesday, FC Cincinnati spokeswoman Fumi Kimura confirmed the club had contacted the league and said to her knowledge it had received no response. She said FC Cincinnati had no further comment.

A tweet sent from the club's official account Saturday said Louisville City had not brought up a ban on streamers in a customary pre-match phone call between the team front offices earlier that week.

Louisville City FC spokesman Jonathan Lintner said Brad Gordon, Louisville City's director of gameday operations, and chief operating officer Steve Livingstone were on the pre-match call. While inter-club communications regarding streamers may have been unclear, Lintner said the removal of fans at the match had less to do with the streamers specifically than it did the fact that fans ignored a warning to stop throwing items onto the field.

"Visiting supporters were first issued warnings to cease and desist throwing projectiles, which were landing near Louisville City FC players and employees," Louisville City said in its statement. "The safety of all fans, officials, staff and players remains paramount at Louisville City FC games."

Sports enterprise reporter Danielle Lerner can be reached at dlerner@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4042.