West Ham Walks Off Field After Alleged Racist Slur Used By Dallas United Player, American Team Withdraws From Tournament

The Soccer Tournament, a seven-a-side million dollar event, got underway on Thursday and we've already got a story of racist allegations and a team withdrawing from the tournament.

West Ham walked off the field during its match against Dallas United and the match was suspended. According to the Daily Mail, a player on Dallas' side allegedly said the n-word to West Ham's Frank Nouble. The allegation was made by Anton Ferdinand, a former West Ham player who is representing his former club in the tournament.

READ: U.S. WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM THRASHED BY WREXHAM MEN’S TEAM MADE UP OF OLDER PLAYERS

Ferdinand was asked by ESPN what exactly happened, with his response being "racism."

An investigation was launched into the matter with The Soccer Tournament officials finding that Dallas withdrawing from the tournament was the best plan of action.

"After conducting an investigation into the final moments of the match between West Ham United and Dallas United, we have concluded that Dallas United violated TST's code of conduct," TST said in a statement. "We have been in dialogue with leadership from both clubs and we are all aligned that the best path forward is Dallas United withdrawing from competition."

"All parties involved are unified in wanting to make a statement against racial insensitivity.

Video from the match shows an angry Ferdinand in a scrum shortly before West Ham players left the field.

Dallas United - which is mostly made up of amateur players - said in a statement that it unanimously came to the decision to withdraw from the tournament.

"In light of the shadow cast by an opposing player’s accusation during tonight’s match, the Dallas United players unanimously decided to withdraw from the remainder of the competition. Our coaches and staff fully support the team’s decision."

The referee of the match told ESPN that he did not hear what was said before West Ham decided to leave the pitch.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.