HEARTS SORRY
HEARTS have revealed the club will apologise to former player Isma Goncalves after he claimed he was subject to racist abuse from Jambos fans.
The Tynecastle side warned supporters they will be banned and reported to the police if they are found guilty of bigoted behaviour.
The Portuguese forward insisted he
was called “a f ****** black” by a minority of Hearts fans.
Goncalves said his family were forced to listen to the sickening slurs.
But The Tynecastle club have quickly fired out a firm message to the racists.
A statement said: “In relation to the recent report of racial abuse directed towards Isma Goncalves, Heart of Midlothian FC wishes to make it clear that it abhors racism and any type of prejudicial abuse, and will not tolerate any incidence of such behaviour.
“We would urge supporters who witness any such behaviour to contact the club, be it in person at Tynecastle, via our Supporter Services email address, by phoning us or by texting our incident report line in confidence.
“The club will be contacting Isma to apologise to him and his family on behalf of the thousands of supporters who share our anger.”
Goncalves has since left the club but said: “I didn’t want to leave Hearts at first but my family were no longer coming to the games.
“There were some people making racist comments to me in the stadium and my family did not feel okay.
“It was a minority but bad things even from a minority can have a big impact.
“My family should be able to go to the stadium and feel comfortable – it’s not nice when your son, your wife and your brother have to listen to people calling me ‘a f ****** black’.”
PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart has condemned the abuse of Goncalves and insists education is key to stamping out racism in football.
He said: “It is hugely disappointing to hear Isma’s claims that he was subjected to racist taunts and abuse.
“What this proves is that there is a need for the kind of education delivered in schools and communities across the country by Show Racism the Red Card.”