Lincoln City has incurred an £8,500 fine handed down by the Football Association due to instances of discriminatory chants from their supporters, directed at Wrexham’s James McClean. This took place during a game at the LNER Stadium in May. In response, the club needs to devise a plan of action to deter such future events.
Tendayi Darikwa, a former international player for Zimbabwe, who hails from Nottingham, talked about the consistent threat of racism in football during a recent episode of the Red Imps Club podcast. He shed light on this prevailing problem by referring to a widely-reported event from August. In this case, a Premier League match between Liverpool and Bournemouth was put on hold as a response to the complaints made by Cherries’ forward Antoine Semenyo about racial abuse from the spectators.
Darikwa pointed out that if instances of racism are taking place within Premier League matches, then it is a reasonable assumption that this issue could be widespread, across all tiers of football in the country. He voiced his disappointment at the continued existence of such behaviour within the sport.
Darikwa also referred to a recent episode which occurred during a League One match between Exeter City and Reading. A racially-motivated comment directed at an Exeter player resulted in a temporary suspension of play. Furthermore, Darikwa explained that while players in the EFL understand the procedures to report such abuse, he would contemplate more drastic steps such as orchestrating a walk-off by his team if the situation demands it.
Original reporting by www.bbc.com was adapted for this article by The Lincoln Post.
