The National Women’s Soccer League has identified and banned a fan who yelled racist comments at Portland Thorns goalkeeper Adrianna Franch during Portland’s 1-0 loss to the Utah Royals at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 6.

The fan has been banned from games at Rio Tinto Stadium and matches at all other NWSL venues, the league said in a statement Saturday.

“After a thorough investigation, the individual who made racist comments towards one of our players at the Utah Royals FC home game on Sept. 6, 2019, has been identified and banned from attending games at Rio Tinto Stadium,” the NWSL said in the statement. “The ban will also extend to all NWSL games played at other venues. NWSL will not tolerate inappropriate fan behavior. Racism has no place in our sport.”

Reports of the incident surfaced on social media during the Sept. 6 game after fans wrote on Twitter that they had heard another fan yelling racist comments at Franch, who is black. On Sept. 7, the Thorns and Royals announced that they had launched an investigation into the incident. The Thorns and Royals, along with Franch and Royals players Christen Press and Becky Sauerbrunn, posted statements in the days after the game condemning racism of any form.

Franch has won the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award in each of the last two seasons and was part of the U.S. team that claimed the 2019 Women’s World Cup title this summer.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

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