A 47-year-old football fan has been arrested after Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused during his team’s match with Liverpool.
Merseyside Police said the suspect from Liverpool was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of a racially-aggravated public order offence at a match at Anfield.
Referee Anthony Taylor stopped play in the 29th minute during the first Premier League fixture of the season on Friday after Semenyo reported being racially abused by a spectator.
A man was ejected from the stadium and the Premier League has said it will launch a full investigation.
Police this afternoon confirmed a suspect has been taken into custody to be interviewed.
Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander for the Liverpool v Bournemouth game, said: “Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form.
“We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible.”
He added: “There is no place for racism and it is vital that anyone who witnesses such an offence reports it to stewards, or the police immediately, so we can take the necessary action like we did this evening.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool Football Club added: “Liverpool Football Club is aware of an allegation of racist abuse made during our Premier League game against Bournemouth.
“We condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, it has no place in society, or football.
“The club is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged is incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully.”
Semenyo went on to score two goals in the second half, pulling Bournemouth level before Liverpool went on to claim a 4-2 win.
In a statement on social media, he thanked the footballing community for standing together in the wake of the alleged incident.
“The overwhelming messages of support from across the football world remind me why I love this sport,” he said. “We keep moving forward, together.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk also offered words of support for the Bournemouth player, adding: “I am here for Antoine, whenever he needs it and we are here as a club to deal with it in the best way possible because it shouldn’t happen.”
More follows on this breaking news story…
