MLS Commissioner Doug Logan "criticized" RFK Stadium
management after "thousands of fans encountered long lines
at entrances to parking lots and at ticket windows" at the
United's "record-setting" home opener Saturday against the
Clash, according to Goff & Straus of the WASHINGTON POST.
Logan: "We've got a long history of good relationships with
the D.C. Armory and with the stadium management there. I
was pretty distressed how our crowd was taken care of. We
hope there won't be a repeat of this." Logan also
"expressed concern" about the security outside the stadium
and in the parking lots, "where there were several reports
of fights and rowdy behavior" but "no arrests." Logan:
"We've got a team there that is going to draw substantial
numbers. We want [Stadium GM Jim Dalrymple] and his stadium
forces to give us what we're paying for." The team pays
$60,000 per game for use of RFK Stadium. But Dalrymple
called the comments "a cheap shot." Dalrymple: "For him to
say they're not getting their money's worth, the
commissioner ought to get a life. He thinks he can direct
this from (MLS headquarters) in New York." Dalrymple noted
that 54 police officers and 45 crowd-control personnel "were
enough to handle the crowd" (WASH. POST, 4/21). In DC, Tom
Knott writes on the United crowd under the header, "Thug
Fans Are Taking Over At RFK" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/21).
