#Alan Hinton blames question marks, conspiracy after ‘racist’ tweet firing by MLS’ Sounders

Another sports broadcaster has lost his job because of a controversial tweet.

Seattle Sounders FC parted ways with Alan Hinton, according to the Seattle Times, after the franchise’s brand ambassador, former coach and television broadcaster on Monday tweeted about his experience with black players.

“Let me make clear I am not a racist?” wrote Hinton, who has used question marks in tweets as a running joke, he previously told the Seattle Times. “I began in pro soccer when no black players on my team? Years later blacks started to be good so my attitude was ‘Love you if you help us win our bonuses’? Signed as a coach several good black players? Have friends who are black? Is that OK?”

By Wednesday, the club cut ties with Hinton.

“Sounders FC has ended its independent-contractor relationship with Alan Hinton,” the team said in a statement to the newspaper. “Hinton’s tweets on June 1 are not congruous with our club values, and as such, he will no longer be representing the organization in an ambassadorial capacity.”

Hinton said he learned he had lost his job on Tuesday when Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer called him. The 77-year-old England native, who coached the Sounders in the North American Soccer League, lamented not getting a chance to explain himself.

“I put a tweet out thinking it was almost a lovable story about what happened 50 years ago,” Hinton, who played for Derby County from 1967-1975, told the Seattle Times.

“Adrian Hanauer twisted it to suit his goal to cut his budget. He didn’t give me a chance to explain what happened. … Since race and rioting is on the television — I watch it six hours a day — and it’s very, very upsetting. In the middle of England, there were very few black people around in the ’70s, and it’s a different world today. I don’t have a problem with anybody — especially race.”

Hinton’s dismissal came days after Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear resigned from the team and was fired by his radio station after tweeting, “All Lives Matter,” in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Hinton’s former employer, meanwhile, tweeted their own statement Tuesday about the recent events around the country, with protests focusing on systemic racism, police brutality and justice for Floyd.

“We are outraged. We are heartbroken. We are angry. We are motivated,” the statement read. “Our community is in so much pain. Our club is all colors. We stand with the Black community. We denounce all forms of racism, hatred and prejudice. Swift action matters, but substantive change matters more. We are committed to be part of that change. Black Lives Matter.”