UNITED STATES football team San Diego Loyal forfeited a second-division match on Wednesday night in protest against a homophobic slur apparently hurled at one of its players by a member of opposing team Phoenix Rising.

San Diego’s Collin Martin had been sent off deep into first-half stoppage time during the match against the Arizona side at Torero Stadium.

But it was alleged the openly gay footballer had been the victim of an anti-gay slur.

Martin’s teammates were seen rallying around him as they walked off the field at half-time. When they came back out for the second half, Loyal’s players and coaches took a knee and then walked off, forfeiting the match.

The California-based team, who are in their inaugural season in the USL Championship, were winning 3-1 at the time and victory would have secured their place in the play-offs.

The alleged incident occurred a week after Loyal’s Elijah Martin was found to have been racially abused by LA Galaxy second-team player Omar Ontiveros, who was later given a seven-game suspension by the USL Championship and released by the club.

“SD Loyal forfeited the match in support of Martin and the diversity that the club stands for within its community,” the club said.

Loyal said in a statement that players and coaches heard the slur, but the match referees did nothing about it.

San Diego manager Landon Donovan told his club’s website: “Our guys said we will not stand for this and they were very clear in that moment that we are giving up all hopes of making the play-offs.

“They are beating one of the best teams in the league but they said it doesn’t matter and there are more things important in life and we have to stick up for what we believe in.

“They made the decision to walk off and I have tremendous pride in this group and I am really proud of this organisation and that I get to be a part of it.”

San Diego and Phoenix Rising were set to hold up a banner in the 71st minute which read: “I will act, I will speak” in reference to the racism experienced by Martin.

However, when Martin alleged he had received homophobic abuse, Donovan and his team made a collective decision during the half-time interval that if the Phoenix player was not shown a red card by the referee or subbed off by his manager Rick Schantz, San Diego would forfeit the fixture.

“We went through a really hard incident in the LA match and we made a vow to ourselves, our community, our players, the club and the USL that we would not stand for bigotry, homophobic slurs and things that don’t belong in our game,” Donovan added.

“Our players in the heart and passion of the moment still wanted to play, but if we wanted to be true to who we are as a club, we have to speak and act.

“After half-time we decided if the player who used the homophobic slur was not removed from the game — either by the officials or by his coach — we would not play. If they are not willing to act, we have to act.”

A club statement from Phoenix read: “Phoenix Rising is investigating the claim of a homophobic slur being used by one its players who has vehemently denied these allegations. Phoenix Rising stands with the USL in rejecting and punishing any homophobic behaviour.”

The USL also confirmed an investigation into the incident had been opened.

The Loyals added in their statement: “SD Loyal finishes its first season in the USL Championship with consecutive forfeits, making a strong message that it will not stand for such behaviour.”