COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Crew forward Cucho Hernández has been suspended from the club's game this weekend "for the use of offensive language," Major League Soccer announced on Thursday.
Hernandez will sit out the home match against the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 1.
The incident happened during the match against the Portland Timbers on Sept. 18 at Lower.com Field.
The Crew signed Hernández from Premier League Club Watford FC earlier this year.
MLS said Hernández was not provided with league-mandated training on language that is not allowed, which is usually required when players arrive to an MLS team.
"I accept the outcome of the League’s ruling and sincerely apologize for the harmful language I used during our recent match against the Portland Timbers. I understand that my language was unacceptable and plan to reach out to the Timbers organization and the player to offer my apologies and fully intend to learn from this situation. I also apologize to my teammates and our fans as this is a critical time of the season," Hernandez wrote in a statement provided by the club.
Crew President and General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko said the club fully cooperated as soon as the issue was brought to its attention.
"We are disappointed that our player used disrespectful and offensive language directed to an opponent and we will take this as an opportunity to better educate our players and learn from this. Cucho expressed immediate remorse for his unacceptable language choice and volunteered to apologize to the Timbers organization and participate in sensitivity training," Bezbatchenko wrote.
When asked for a statement by 10TV, the Timbers declined comment.
In 15 games this season, he has scored nine goals and tallied two assists.
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