Coventry City and Sheffield Wednesday condemn ‘racist gesture’ aimed at player during English soccer match

By Matias Grez, CNN

(CNN) — English soccer clubs Coventry City and Sheffield Wednesday have jointly condemned a “racist gesture” allegedly aimed at Coventry midfielder Kasey Palmer during their match on Saturday.

Palmer, who is Black, said it was a “couple” of fans making “monkey chants.”

The alleged incident took place during a match in the Championship, English football’s second tier, which Coventry won 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium.

“Disappointed to even have to come on here & write this,” Palmer said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Racism is a disgrace … it has no place in the world, let alone football. I’m black and proud and I am raising my three kids to be the exact same.

“I’ll be honest, it feels like things will never change, no matter how hard we try.

“Couple fans doing monkey chants don’t define a fan base – I appreciate all the love and support I’ve received.”

In a statement released on the club’s website, Coventry owner Doug King said they “completely condemn” the abuse and will support Palmer following the incident.

“There is no place for this in football or society and we support Sheffield Wednesday and the authorities in taking the strongest possible action,” he said.

Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri added: “We absolutely condemn the abuse reported by Kasey Palmer today and stand together with Coventry City in our clear stance that there is no place in football or society for such appalling behaviour.”

The incident came on the same day that AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan led his team off the pitch due to alleged racist chants directed toward him by opposing fans during an Italian Serie A match away at Udinese.

Talking to Sky Sports after the match, the 28-year-old Maignan, who is Black, said he heard “monkey noises” and chants from the crowd the moment he took the ball for his first goal kick, and again on the second goal kick.

“They’re ignorant people… You can be booed or whistled when you’re away from home, that’s normal, but what happened today has no place in football,” Maignan said.

Maignan informed the referee Fabio Maresca, who halted the game, as Maignan and his Milan teammates walked off the pitch and down the players’ tunnel.

The match resumed less than 10 minutes later, and Milan would win a dramatic encounter 3-2 in the final minutes.

In a statement released later on Saturday, Gianni Infantino, the president of soccer’s global governing body FIFA, called the events in England and Italy “totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable.”

“There is no place for racism or any form of discrimination – both in football and in society. The players affected by Saturday’s events have my undivided support,” he said.

“We need ALL the relevant stakeholders to take action, starting with education in schools so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society.”

On top of FIFA’s current three-step protocol – which allows a match to be stopped twice for racist chanting, before abandoning it if it happens a third time – Infantino said he also wants to implement “an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned.”

He additionally wants worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racist fans.

The-CNN-Wire
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