'F*** off LAFC' - Why are Swiss soccer fans protesting against an MLS club?

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Supporters of Swiss club Grasshopper staged a large-scale protest against Major League Soccer franchise LAFC on Saturday.

The Zurich outfit are staring down the barrel of relegation despite being Switzerland's record champions. Grasshopper have won 27 national titles - six more than FC Basel - but the glory days are a distant memory at this point.

For years, and even decades, Grasshopper have struggled to recapture their former prominence. Their last Swiss Super League title was won in 2003. In 2019, the club were relegated to the second division for the first time in 70 years.

Though they bounced back two years later, they could soon suffer that humiliation once more. Grasshopper currently sit second-bottom in the Super League standings, seven points adrift of safety.

As things stand, they are heading for a relegation playoff against the side that finishes runners-up in the second division. However, there are four games remaining and rock-bottom Winterthur could still technically overtake Grasshopper despite an eight-point difference.

Grasshopper fans have had enough of LAFC

So, what does LAFC have to do with this? Well, they are the owners of Grasshopper. The MLS franchise acquired a majority stake in the Zurich side in early 2024 with the goal of "stabilising" the club and achieving success through "talent development."

Clearly, they have yet to deliver on their promises. Last season, Grasshopper needed the playoff against second-tier Aarau to escape relegation, something that could once more be required this term.

Should the playoff indeed be necessary, Grasshopper could again face Aarau, who have a 10-point gap to relegated Yverdon in third. There are four games left in the Challenge League.

However, Grasshopper have yet to show that they are ready to perform when the pressure is on, even against second-tier opposition. They just lost to Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy to squander the opportunity of reaching their first cup final in over a decade.

This result was the straw that broke the camel's back. It prompted Grasshopper's ultras to boycott the first 30 minutes of their game with Luzern at the weekend. The only thing that was visible in the supporters' section during that half hour was a huge banner that read "F*** off LAFC."

The visitors from Lucerne ran out 2-1 victors, but the club's fans showed solidarity with their Zurich counterparts by holding up a banner of their own. "Against majority shareholders and multi-club ownership," was the away fans' message.

Bayern also partly to blame

LAFC have borne the brunt of the ire, but they are not the only ones involved in this mess. German giants Bayern Munich are also implicated in Grasshopper's struggles because they are using them almost like a farm team.

The link between the Bundesliga champions and Grasshopper stems from the club's joint venture with LAFC, Red&Gold Football. This multi-club network was launched to ensure "the promotion of young talents and their responsible accompaniment into professional football."

Officially, only Bayern, LAFC, SD Aucas (Ecuador), Racing Club de Montevideo (Uruguay), Jeju SK FC (South Korea) and three academies from the Gambinos Group (Cameroon, The Gambia and Senegal) are part of this network.

Despite not formally being part of Red&Gold, Grasshopper are in the group's orbit due to LAFC's ownership of the club. Given that they are the only other European side involved, they have become the apple of Bayern's eye.

After all, it is easier to monitor players in nearby Switzerland than on a different continent. Numerous young players who are too good for the Bavarians' fourth-tier reserves but not first-team ready have been loaned to Grasshopper since the launch of Red&Gold.

This season, Lovro Zvonarek and Jonathan Asp Jensen are on loan at Grasshopper. The latter has actually been a solid signing, scoring nine goals. Virginia-native Grayson Dettoni and Australian wonderkid Nestory Irankunda were loaned to the club last term.

Next season, it could be Bara Ndiaye, who was snapped up by Bayern after impressing on trial at Grasshopper last summer. Due to his age, he could have only been signed in January, but it's fair to say that he would have been quite useful to the Swiss side in the past few weeks.

He is a huge talent and was recently handed his Bundesliga debut. He is only on loan from one of the Gambinos clubs, but his stay at Bayern is expected to become permanent this summer, after which he will likely be loaned to Grasshopper.

At that point, though, it could already be too late for one of Switzerland's biggest clubs.

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Written by

Tom Weber | Writer

Tom Weber is an experienced, multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer as part of his freelance work for FootballTransfers.

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