Premier League fan arrested over alleged racial abuse toward Antoine Semenyo

An English football fan was arrested for alleged racial abuse toward Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo during a Premier League match against Everton on Monday. 

Merseyside Police arrested a 71-year-old man “on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order [offense],” according to the BBC.

Authorities made the arrest after “supporters and stewards reported that racist abuse was shouted” by the Everton fan,” police said. 

Everton and Manchester City were playing the Matchweek 35 contest at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool. 

Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo celebrates after scoring a goal this season. REUTERS

Everton condemned the man’s alleged actions on Tuesday in a statement that called “racism and discrimination in all forms are completely unacceptable.”

“They have no place in our stadia, our sport or in society,” the club said. “The club will continue to work closely with the authorities to support their investigation and will take the strongest possible action in line with its zero-tolerance approach.”

The man was bailed with conditions and is now not allowed to go within one mile of any designated sports stadium up to four hours before kickoff, during the match and up to four hours after the match has ended, police said. 

Manchester City thanked Everton and the police for their “swift action” in response to the incident. 

The in-stadium incident was not the only racial abuse a member of the Man City club faced this week. 

The club said defender Marc Guéhi had also faced racial abuse online following the 3-3 draw. 

In a statement, Manchester City said the club was “incredibly disappointed” after learning that Guéhi had been “subject to a series of vile racist social media posts last night.” 

“We will continue to offer our full support to both Antoine and Marc and never accept discrimination of any kind in our game,” the statement read. 

For Semenyo, it was not the first time that he had been subjected to such abuse. While playing in the Premier League opener this season for Bournemouth against Liverpool, he reported being racially abused by a fan.