Gotham FC news roundup: International duty and a fan is banned | OneFootball

NJ/NY Gotham FC and the rest of the NWSL are off this week for the international break. This might be good for the Bats since they are 0-1-2 after three games. They recently played a dull draw with the Houston Dash. They have only scored one goal in the early part of the season, which came during the season opener against Seattle Reign FC.

As always, there is still plenty to cover despite the break. Here is the next Gotham FC news roundup, which includes information on the international players and more.

Gotham FC news roundup: National teams and more

Six Gotham FC players are on international duty

Gotham FC has six players away on international duty. Ann-Katrin Berger is away with Germany, Bruninha and Gabi Portilho will suit up for Brazil, Jess Carter is back with England, Emily Sonnett is the lone USWNT representative, Stella Nyamekye is with Ghana, and Esther González is finally back with Spain.

Additionally, Lilly Reale and Sarah Schupansky were called up to the U-23 USWNT team for their first training camp of 2025.

For Gotham fans, the biggest games will be the two friendlies between the USWNT and Brazil. The national teams will face one another for the first time since the USWNT beat Brazil to win the gold medal in the Summer Olympics. Saturday is also the first game since the Stars and Stripes lost their first match under Emma Hayes, for they lost to Japan in the SheBelieves Cup.

As such, revenge will be a goal for Brazil and the USWNT will try to bounce back with a win. This makes the matchup intriguing. It will also be a plus if Sonnett, Bruninha, and Portilho are on the pitch at the same time.

Gotham bans a fan

Sadly, after the home opener against the Orlando Pride, it was announced that Gotham FC was investigating an incident regarding Orlando's Barbra Banda. A supporter in the stands directed hateful words toward the player during the match.

Per the club, they addressed and monitored the individual for the remainder of the fixture, which was slightly shocking since one would have expected the fan to be removed.

Nevertheless, after the investigation, Gotham announced the following:

"Following reports of an incident during our March 23 match vs. the Orlando Pride, Gotham FC conducted a thorough investigation in collaboration with the NWSL, staff and stadium security. We interviewed numerous witnesses, including fans and stadium, team and league personnel, and reviewed stadium security footage and security logs. The club found that a fan violated the NWSL Fan Code of Conduct. As such, Gotham FC has revoked their season tickets, and the fan has been banned from future Gotham FC matches and events."

While the club arguably should have taken immediate action, it is good to see they concluded the investigation quickly and banned the fan. It is terrible that Banda suffered abuse, but it is also good to see that multiple witnesses came forward. Hate has no place at Gotham FC games or in the NWSL.