5 MLS matches postponed as players join strikes against racial injustice

Major League Soccer postponed Wednesday's five remaining matches, the league announced. It intends to reschedule the games.

The news follows Inter Miami and Atlanta United's decision to walk off ahead of their game in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first match of the evening - Orlando City's visit from Nashville SC - was already underway and was completed.

MLS said in its statement that it "made the decision" to postpone the matches. However, Los Angeles FC midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, who pressured the league to take a stance against racial injustice and police brutality earlier in the evening, angrily tweeted in response, "We as players made the decision. Fix this, please give the right narrative."

The teams weren't unanimous in voting to not play, so MLS decided to call off the rest of the midweek clashes amid the uncertainty, a league source told The Washington Post's Steven Goff.

The protest from MLS players follows the Milwaukee Bucks not taking the court for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic earlier on Wednesday in response to Sunday's police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The no-show prompted the postponements of two other NBA playoff contests later in the evening and more games called off in MLB.

"Yes, people will miss out on the entertainment. But, at the end of the day, it's entertainment. There are other things going on which are essentially life or death, which should be a bigger part of any conversation that exists today," Real Salt Lake defender Nedum Onuoha told Jonathan Tannenwald of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The next scheduled MLS match is between the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC on Friday.