Schoolboy who quit football after 'vile, racist abuse' returns to sport
A Scots boy who was allegedly called the "P-word" in vile racist physical and verbal assault at a youth Motherwell FC training camp run has made a spectacular return to football.
On Wednesday April 18, Haaris Arshad had been "buzzing" to attend the event at Fir Park Stadium alongside his cousin, Ben Reynolds.
However, the then eight-year-old was left in tears and refused to return after the two schoolboys were allegedly called the " P-word" and were told to "go home" by another group while both were "punched", "pushed", and "taunted" shortly after arriving for the two-day course.
Dad Wasim Arshad, said at the time: "My son is football daft - he absolutely loves it and never misses a day's training. But since this, he hasn't been able to go back to training."
Following the incident, Wasim had a meeting with the CEO of Motherwell who tried to persuade him to come back to the training session, but the youngster "wasn't interested" and stopped playing football all together for two weeks.
Wasim told Glasgow Live: "He decided he didn't want anything to do with football for two weeks. It really hit his confidence.
"But one of his coaches came round to the house with new goalkeeping gloves that the entire team had chipped in to buy for him. He decided to go back, but he was very nervous and worried that people were going to call him names."
Haaris, now aged nine, returned to playing for Blantyre Celtic, but the season ended shortly after. But the youngster turned heads in his first tournament back for the side on Sunday, July 27, being named the best player.
Proud dad Wasim said: "It was an amazing achievement for him, especially because he is a goalkeeper. Parents and coaches were coming up to me and saying how well he was playing.
"One of the main coaches said he played at a very high level for his age and made some phenomenal saves. As a father, it makes you really proud.
"It was incredible how, through his own hard work and support from his teammates, he's gone from wanting to quit football to winning an award. Especially being a goalkeeper, these things usually go to strikers."
The young Celtic fan has set his sights on playing for the Parkhead side one day.
Wasim added: "He's got the talent for it. In a few years I could see the big clubs being interested in him. It's something he wants to pursue and we are supporting him towards that. You never know what can happen."
A spokesperson for Motherwell FC said at the time: "We are aware of an alleged incident that took place at one of the Club's charity partners, Motherwell Football Club Community Trust's Easter Holiday Camps.
"An allegation was made after the conclusion to the holiday camp on Wednesday that a young child had used racial language towards another child participant.
" Motherwell FC Community Trust have a zero tolerance to any discriminatory language and have reported the alleged incident to 'Show Racism the Red card' and Police Scotland who have both confirmed that the Trust have followed all the correct procedures following this allegation.
"A meeting has been set up with the affected parent. No further comment will be made at this time."
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
4 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Too much ego, too much self-preservation – Russell Martin fumes at Rangers draw
Gers skipper James Tavernier headed in from a corner in the 14th minute but the Ibrox side failed to kick on and eventually succumbed in the 87th minute when Emmanuel Longelo drove in a deserved equaliser for a 1-1 draw. It is the third successive season that Rangers have failed to win their opening game, and on Sunday they could fall behind Old Firm rivals Celtic when the champions host St Mirren. In a spectacular post-match summation of his players, Martin, whose side progressed to the Champions League third qualifying round against Viktoria Plzen with a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos on Wednesday, said: 'I'm very disappointed and a bit hurt and a bit angry at a lot of stuff I saw. 'Motherwell were really good, credit to them. But I said to the players, the problems haven't been tactical, yet. They've been mentality, about energy, about courage, intensity, aggression, to play. 'We haven't started games well enough in the first half in the two European games and then showed a bit more willingness to trust the detail in each other and work. 'And then today, we go ahead and play some OK stuff. Every time we get in the final third, we turn the ball over and make crazy decisions. 'They're either selfish decisions or they're based on anxiety, so we need to get to the bottom of that. 'Because there was far too much stuff that we haven't worked on or haven't seen. 'It's not me digging them out. I take full responsibility for it. But that hurts me more than anything. 'The problem should be tactical, it shouldn't be mentality. So we have too many guys that slip into self-preservation mode. And I think it's been a fact of this club for the last few years for sure. 'So when it's going well, you're all-in, you want to run, you want the ball. It's nice, but when it's not going well, you don't want to run so much, you pick and choose when you want to run. 'You pick and choose when you want to compete and mark your player from a throw-in or a corner. 'You pick and choose when to run back, and it's unacceptable for this sort of club. And for us as a coaching staff, this is not acceptable. 'We're six weeks in, there will be issues. But the issue today is purely mentality. 'So too much ego, too much self-preservation, and you're either all-in all the time or you're not. And if you're not, you just won't play very much.' Motherwell's new boss Jens Berthel Askou, a former team-mate of Martin at Norwich who was taking charge of his first league game, was disappointed his side did not take all three points. 'I said to players, I was very disappointed on their behalf that they didn't get the win at the end because we did everything we could to get the win,' he said. 'But again, that's down to quality also in these small situations and we'll keep working on that and sharpen that up. 'I think they gave themselves the opportunity to win, and that's where it starts with the effort and with the desperation to go forward and to punish them on their transitions and to really work extremely hard throughout the entire game. 'I was very happy with that and I know that if we are able to put our performances like this over time, that there will be many other opportunities to win games.'
South Wales Guardian
7 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Too much ego, too much self-preservation – Russell Martin fumes at Rangers draw
Gers skipper James Tavernier headed in from a corner in the 14th minute but the Ibrox side failed to kick on and eventually succumbed in the 87th minute when Emmanuel Longelo drove in a deserved equaliser for a 1-1 draw. It is the third successive season that Rangers have failed to win their opening game, and on Sunday they could fall behind Old Firm rivals Celtic when the champions host St Mirren. In a spectacular post-match summation of his players, Martin, whose side progressed to the Champions League third qualifying round against Viktoria Plzen with a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos on Wednesday, said: 'I'm very disappointed and a bit hurt and a bit angry at a lot of stuff I saw. 'Motherwell were really good, credit to them. But I said to the players, the problems haven't been tactical, yet. They've been mentality, about energy, about courage, intensity, aggression, to play. 'We haven't started games well enough in the first half in the two European games and then showed a bit more willingness to trust the detail in each other and work. 'And then today, we go ahead and play some OK stuff. Every time we get in the final third, we turn the ball over and make crazy decisions. 'They're either selfish decisions or they're based on anxiety, so we need to get to the bottom of that. 'Because there was far too much stuff that we haven't worked on or haven't seen. 'It's not me digging them out. I take full responsibility for it. But that hurts me more than anything. 'The problem should be tactical, it shouldn't be mentality. So we have too many guys that slip into self-preservation mode. And I think it's been a fact of this club for the last few years for sure. 'So when it's going well, you're all-in, you want to run, you want the ball. It's nice, but when it's not going well, you don't want to run so much, you pick and choose when you want to run. 'You pick and choose when you want to compete and mark your player from a throw-in or a corner. 'You pick and choose when to run back, and it's unacceptable for this sort of club. And for us as a coaching staff, this is not acceptable. 'We're six weeks in, there will be issues. But the issue today is purely mentality. 'So too much ego, too much self-preservation, and you're either all-in all the time or you're not. And if you're not, you just won't play very much.' Motherwell's new boss Jens Berthel Askou, a former team-mate of Martin at Norwich who was taking charge of his first league game, was disappointed his side did not take all three points. 'I said to players, I was very disappointed on their behalf that they didn't get the win at the end because we did everything we could to get the win,' he said. 'But again, that's down to quality also in these small situations and we'll keep working on that and sharpen that up. 'I think they gave themselves the opportunity to win, and that's where it starts with the effort and with the desperation to go forward and to punish them on their transitions and to really work extremely hard throughout the entire game. 'I was very happy with that and I know that if we are able to put our performances like this over time, that there will be many other opportunities to win games.'
Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Celtic hero left astonished at Russell Martin's TV rant as Rangers boss fillets flops after points dropped at Motherwell
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CELTIC hero Chris Sutton says Russell Martin looks "a bit desperate" after he "machine gunned the dressing room" on day one of the new season. In his league debut, the Rangers boss didn't hold back in his post-match interview after their 1-1 draw with Motherwell. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Rangers opened the scoring through Jame Tavernier Credit: Willie Vass 3 Longelo levels late on for Motherwell Credit: Willie Vass 3 Martin was fuming in his post-match interview with Sky He described the performance as "extremely disappointing" and urged some of his players to "drop their egos". It's as he conceded they were lucky to get a point in the Premiership curtain raiser at Fir Park. After the game he blasted his players and Sutton says he's never seen it happen so early in the season. He told Sky Sports: "He understands he has to win. "He's gone a bit early with this, but it's a bit desperate. "The first game of the season, he is easing himself in but to absolutely machine gun the dressing room the way that he did. "He sees them everyday in training, he must think they are rank rotten because why wouldn't there be a bit more balance there." Rangers opened the scoring through James Tavernier, but Motherwell got the point their play deserved when Emmanuel Longelo levelled late on. Sutton added: "When have you ever seen a manager come out and fillet the team on the first day of the season. Billy Dodds on returning to Rangers under Barry Ferguson, defeating Mourinho & ending Celtic Park hoodoo "Everybody tells you it's been wonderful in pre-season but now the season has started he has to win, but that was extreme." Former Rangers striker and SunSport columnist Kris Boyd was also a pundit for the Sky game and gave his post match thoughts. Boyd said it was "alarming" to hear Martin call out his players so early on. He added: "The opening day of the season, it's got to be a lot better than that. "There's a real lack of pace in that frontline. "And they never really created anything until Motherwell scored. "It's got to get a lot better from Rangers, there's no getting away with from it. "That's three seasons in a row they've failed to win on the opening day. "There are still players that are going to have to come in that are better than the ones already here because that - especially second half - was nowhere near good enough." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
