TOWN IN AFTER FA LOOK AT RACISM CLAIMS

SEVENOAKS Town will take their place in the next round of the FA Cup despite last Saturday’s preliminary round clash with CB Hounslow United being abandoned after the visitors refused to play the second half because of alleged racist abuse.

Isthmian South East Sevenoaks were winning 3-0 against their Combined Counties Premier opponents when the game came to an untimely end.

Hounslow say one of their players had been racially abused by the crowd and had complained to the referee on four occasions during the first half.

The visitors accordingly refused to leave their dressing room after the interval, with Sevenoaks 3-0 up thanks to goals from Kyle De Silva, Tyrell Richardson-Brown and James Bessey-Sakdana.

The hosts launched an investigation and gathered witness statements.

On Thursday, the FA issued a statement which read: “The matter was investigated by the FA, including a review of match reports, observations, statements and match footage, and we can now confirm that Sevenoaks Town will not be subject to any FA disciplinary action.

“We have established that the club and the match-day officials took the appropriate steps, as per the required protocol, when informed of the alleged abuse. However, we will continue to work with the clubs to establish if there is any additional evidence in relation to the alleged incident.

“The FA takes all allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and we would like to thank both teams for bringing this to our attention, and for their full cooperation throughout.”

● Hollands & Blair refused to travel to play Burgess Hill Town in the FA Cup – because they heard that some of their opponents’ squad had tested positive for coronavirus.

As a result, Hollands were booted out of the competition by the FA.

Isthmian League South East outfit Burgess Hill issued a statement the evening before last Saturday’s scheduled preliminary round tie, saying that “some players” had tested positive for Covid-19

After contacting the Southern Counties East League for advice, on the morning of the game the Hollands committee including manager Simon Halsey decided not to travel in the interest of their players’ health.