Greek forward Taxiarchis ‘Taxi’ Fountas has parted ways with US Major League Soccer club D.C. United after he allegedly directed a racial slur to a teammate.
Foutas and the club have mutually agreed to terminate his contract after it was alleged he used a racial slur toward Nigel Robertha during a match last month.
Taxi, who got his start at AEK Athens, was in his second season at United and was the club leading goalkicker in his 15 months in the US.
In a statement put out by United, they said the league found the allegations of using prohibited and discriminatory language to be credible.
“There is no place for racism, homophobia, misogyny, or discrimination of any kind in our sport and world and D.C. United do not tolerate any acts of this nature,” the statement said.
During the second half of a United match against New England Revolution on July 21, Fountas and Robertha, who is Black from the Netherlands, were seen arguing on the field.
While it was unclear how the argument began, it reportedly carried over into the rooms after the game.
According to The Athletic, the disagreement became physical and Robertha allegedly hit the Greek with a foam roller. The Dutch player later told teammates that Taxi used a racial slur toward him in the match.
Both were placed on leave after the incident, with Robertha reinstated a week later.
The former Panionios and Asteras Tripolis player has continuously denied using the slur, and even commissioned a polygraph test to clear his name.
This is now the second time in two years that Fountas has been accused of using racial slurs, as last year the MLS investigated him for another alleged use of a racial slur, this time at an opponent at Inter Miami.
This was determined a ‘credible’ but the league couldn’t corroborate and he went unpunished.
Fountas took to X today, formerly Twitter, to share an image of him in the Greek national team colours, writing: #ΝέαΦωτογραφίαΠροφίλ (new profile picture).
