Roth apologizes for ‘irresponsible comments’

Early in last night’s Alliance Council meeting, now-minority owner Joe Roth misstated Guatemala as Marco Pappa’s home country, and in “correcting” himself, characterized Guatemala and Nicaragua as cocaine distributing countries. The remarks drew some catcalls from the audience. And today, Roth got around to apologizing.

Below is the news release from the club:

Following Thursday evening's Alliance Annual Business Meeting, Sounders FC Owner Joe Roth has issued the following statement.

"I sincerely apologize for the irresponsible comments I made after misidentifying Marco Pappa's home country at last night's Alliance Annual Business Meeting," said Roth. "These comments do not in any way reflect my values or what I believe. As our fans know, we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind from any members of our organization, and I deeply regret my poor judgment."

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Roth apologizes for ‘irresponsible comments’."