Everton investigates racist behavior of supporter during EPL match
Everton is investigating a supporter’s alleged racist behavior during the club’s English Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The match was overshadowed by the horrific injury to Portuguese international Andre Gomes who suffered a fractured dislocation of his right ankle after a challenge from Son Heung-Min.
The South Korean star was in tears as he was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson, with players on both teams struggling to come to terms with the gruesome looking injury.
Pictures emerged later on social media which appeared to show a supporter performing a racist gesture toward Son.
“Everton is investigating an alleged incident of racist behaviour by a supporter attending today’s fixture against Tottenham,” read a tweet from Everton Fan Services.
“Everton strongly condemns any form of racism. Any such behavior has no place within our stadium, our club, our community or our game.”
Merseyside Police has yet to publicly comment.
Tottenham said it was aware of the investigation into the alleged incident at Goodison Park.
“We stand with Everton in strongly condemning any form of racist or discriminatory behaviour and support them in any action they may take against anyone found to be guilty of behaving in such a manner,” it said in a statement provided to CNN.
More racist incidents
The alleged racist incident came on the same day that Brescia striker Mario Balotelli threatened to leave the pitch after he was racially abused by opposition Verona fans in Italy’s top flight.
In addition, an English FA Cup tie was abandoned after Haringey Borough walked off the field of play following racist abuse, just days after England’s male national team suffered racial abuse during its World Cup qualifying victory over Bulgaria in Sofia.
