Celebrities show their support for 3-year-old football player after police called over dispute

A toddler has received an influx of support on social media after police were called during a youth league match over a dispute between league official and the parents of three-year-old Nevada Pierre.

Nevada can be seen in circulated footage displaying his footy skills as he whizzed past the other players.

But the league official asked the family to leave after concerns about Nevada's play and parents' behaviour as they disagreed over the decision to "swap out" Nevada to allow other children to play in the game at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Winter Park, Florida.

Police body camera footage of the confrontation has since gone viral.

In the clip, the league official can be heard telling the officer, "What happened is he's very advanced compared to the other ones. So he scored a lot of goals, but he pushes the kids to do all that stuff. So I try to tell him, 'Hey, stop! Don't [push]. You want to play with that person, right?'" [The parents] don't like that. They tell me I'm ignorant. I'm this. I'm that."

Furthermore, the audio of the 911 call has also been released by police where the legal official called to report an alleged "unruly parent."

"There's a parent here that's really really disruptive ... following me around and calling me names and in front of this whole bunch of people that's here," he said in the call. "I want [her] to be gone ... Can you have someone quickly get here?"

No arrests were made as police confirmed the issue was deemed a “civil matter.”

Taking to Instagram, Nevada's parents have denied the claims and posted a video of footage from the game with the caption, “This is the full game no cut no edit where is the pushing ?"

Celebrities share their support for Nevada

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images, and Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Glamour

Former football player Eddie Johnson has offered to train Nevada after league officials called the authorities on his parents after he was accused of pushing teammates on the field during the i9 youth soccer game on Saturday.

“Nevada deserves to be around someone that looks like him that can understand him and it’s sad in youth soccer we don’t have enough of those programs for kids of color to have those examples around them because soccer is a rich suburban sport that’s controlled by privileged rich entitled parents and no one likes when the less fortunate kids are better [than] their kids,” Johnson wrote in an Instagram post.

"One of the many issues with youth soccer in this country. l experienced it now he’s experiencing it," he added, noting instances like this are the reason he created EJE7, his youth football development academy in Orlando.

“We should be praising a three year old with his ability instead of tarnishing it."

YouTuber Ms Rachel also offered for Nevada to appear as a guest on her show and called his treatment "racist, sick, traumatizing and disgusting."

" I’m LIVID! Please sports people give him all the experiences and love. @nevadaney10 We’d love to have him on our show to share his amazing skills. I need sports people to show up for him. Recently there was a 1 year old boy who experienced racism during a library event with a puppet and we are showing up for him because we are puppet people I need my sports people to show up!!! This is racist, sick, traumatizing and disgusting," she wrote on Instagram.

Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation Sports also wrote, “Keep shining Nevada, we support you!”

Nevada's mother launches GoFundMe

GoFundMe

A GoFundMe has been launched by Nevada's mother Martasia Griffin to support Nevada's soccer journey.

"This fundraiser is about more than one painful experience. It is about protecting Nevada’s passion for soccer and making sure this moment does not define his journey. As his mother, it has been incredibly hard to see the emotional impact this has had on him. We believe every child, regardless of abilities, background, or potential, deserves the chance to learn, grow, and enjoy the game they love in a safe and supportive environment," she wrote.

Griffin added that donations will help to cover "registration fees, training, equipment, uniforms, travel expenses, and other opportunities for him to keep developing his talent."

We need this support as soon as possible so Nevada can move forward and keep doing what he loves," she concluded.

At the time of writing, the fundraiser has raised nearly $46,000, meanwhile on Instagram Nevada's account has now has 1 million followers.

What has the league said?

“We are aware of concerns being shared regarding an incident at a local i9 Sports program, and we take them very seriously,” the league said in a statement to WESH.

“The respectful treatment and well-being of every child and family matter deeply to us,” the league continued. “We have reached out to the family and have begun a review that includes speaking with those involved. While we work to understand the circumstances, we will not speculate or share unverified information. We appreciate everyone who has brought their concerns to our attention.”

Why not read...

• Europe's next big golf destination? What’s it like to play in Madeira
• Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed goes viral for epic Trump clap back

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.