Police launch hate crime probe in Liverpool after fan's alleged racial abuse of Semenyo during game
The incident occurred Friday night at Anfield when Semenyo, who is Black, reported the abuse to referee Anthony Taylor in the first half with the score at 0-0. Play was briefly stopped while Taylor spoke to both coaches and team captains.
'Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form,' said Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander.
The fan's identity was confirmed and he was removed from the stadium, police added.
'We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible,' Chatterton said.
Semenyo, who scored both of Bournemouth's goals in the 4-2 loss, later posted further racial abuse that he received online.
'When will it stop,' the 25-year-old Ghana international wrote on his Instagram account.
Bournemouth players had consoled Semenyo and an anti-discrimination message was read out to the crowd inside Anfield after the halftime whistle.
The Premier League also said it will investigate the incident and 'offer our full support to the player and both clubs.'
In a statement, Liverpool said it was aware of the allegation and that it condemns 'racism and discrimination in all forms.'
'The club is unable to comment further as tonight's alleged incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully,' it added late Friday.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chelsea's £250m attack misfires against Crystal Palace
Chelsea started against Crystal Palace with new signing Joao Pedro up front, Cole Palmer playing in behind, Jamie Gittens on the left and Pedro Neto on the right - and another creative influence, Enzo Fernandez, in midfield. However, they struggled to create anything before the break and could well have been behind. In the second half, two other new attackers - Estevao and Liam Delap - came off the bench when the hosts were pushing for a winner and Palace appeared willing to settle for a point away at a 'big-six' opponent. The six attackers mentioned above cost Chelsea close to £250m in total - not including the £107m for midfielder Fernandez - so fans would no doubt expect the Blues to create plenty of chances. But they mustered just three shots on target on Sunday - one fewer than Palace - and could have done with someone like former winger Eden Hazard, who was watching on in the stands. Chelsea will feel their attack will start firing soon, but perhaps their short pre-season and addition of so many new players, once again, means they take time to settle. This was a missed opportunity for the Blues who were in celebration mode before kick-off, which helped create one of the loudest atmospheres at Stamford Bridge since the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet the positive feelings from winning the Club World Cup and Conference League could not be translated into a statement display on the field. However, goodwill among their fanbase is still alive despite a disappointing opening result.
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chelsea draw blank in Crystal Palace stalemate
Chelsea suffered a Club World Cup hangover as they were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace to open their Premier League campaign on Sunday. Palace were denied an early opener when Eberechi Eze's free-kick was ruled out by a VAR review for Marc Guehi obstructing the Chelsea wall. New Chelsea signing Estevao came closest to snatching a winner for the home side, but the newly-crowned world champions were blunt in attack against a well-organised Palace defence. The Eagles key duo of Guehi and Eze started despite mounting speculation the England internationals are set to join Liverpool and Tottenham, respectively. "As long as they are 100 percent committed, they will play as they are so good," said Palace boss Oliver Glasner. "They didn't just show they are great footballers, but they are great persons and that's what I expected." Eze thought he had opened the scoring with a blistering free-kick that had too much power for Robert Sanchez. The goal was disallowed for Guehi's role in creating a gap by man-handling Moises Caicedo into the Chelsea wall. Chelsea's demolition of European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final last month had raised the Blues' hopes they can challenge for a first Premier League title since 2017. But Enzo Maresca bemoaned his side's lack of preparation time since beating PSG in New York just 35 days ago. "They played about eight (pre-season) games, we played just two so we tried our best," said the Italian. "We expected a tough game. Apart from the first half free-kick, we didn't concede any chances." Estevao scored against Chelsea at the Club World Cup in his final game for Palmeiras. The Brazilian has been hyped as one of the world's brightest young talents but lacked the composure to finish when he sliced high and wide from the middle of the box. Nottingham Forest made light of manager Nuno Espirito Santo's pre-season fears over a lack of signings with a dominant 3-1 win over a much-changed Brentford. Chris Wood struck twice either side of Dan Ndyoe's debut goal for Forest on a nightmare afternoon for new Brentford boss Keith Andrews. "It was a very good first half. The combinations were really good, beautiful goals," said Nuno. "This is why we are insisting on a good balanced squad that gives us options and solutions." The Bees have lost their manager, captain and top scorer in the off-season. Thomas Frank left to take charge of Tottenham, Bryan Mbeumo got his dream move to Manchester United and Arsenal secured Christian Norgaard. Yoane Wissa was also missing from the Brentford squad ahead of an expected move to Newcastle. Igor Thiago's first goal for the club from the penalty spot late on was the only consolation for the visitors. "I do have genuine belief but we have to take responsibility for a first half that wasn't good enough," said Andrews. kca/pb/nf
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Set pieces make the difference: Arsenal win it from corners again
Arsenal has made good use of set pieces against Manchester United. According to Opta data, three of the Gunners' last four Premier League goals against the Red Devils have come from corner scored? Three different defenders: Timber, Saliba, and Calafiori. In other words: aerial strength and strategy have been important weapons for Mikel Arteta in big games. Coincidence? Unlikely. It seems much more like the result of training and planning. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here. 📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors
