The protest was prompted after Phoenix Rising player Junior Flemmings allegedly threw a homophobic slur towards Martin. In a statement via Twitter, the openly gay player opened up about the incident, stating: “In last night’s game against Phoenix Rising, an exchange between Junior Flemmings and myself escalated to the point of him calling me a “Bati Boy”, which is a homophobic slur that can be translated to “faggot”.” He continued: “During the next stoppage in play, I tried telling the ref that a gay slur had been directed towards me, however, he got confused and thought I called him gay – hence why I was mistakenly given a red card thereafter.” Martin went on to express how moved he was by his coaches and teammates walking off the pitch,