The Scotsman

Five-game ban for racial abuse for Clyde’s Love

- By ANDY NEWPORT

Clyde defender Ally Love has been handed a fivegame ban after being found guilty of racially abusing an opponent.

The 26-year-old has been suspended by the Scottish Football Associatio­n after an independen­t disciplina­ry panel ruled he had used discrimina­tory language towards Annan Athletic winger Rabin Omar during a Ladbrokes League 2 clash last month.

Love – who was making his first appearance for Clyde following his transfer from Brechin City – is understood to have called Dutchman Omar a “P*** b ****** ” among several other insults.

Furious Annan officials reported the incident to referee Scott Millar after the match, prompting an investigat­ion by SFA compliance officer Tony Mcglennan.

Now Love has been found guilty of breaching SFA rule 202, which relates to “excessive misconduct”.

He will serve an immediate five-game suspension, ruling him out of Clyde’s home and away clashes with Cowdenbeat­h as well as fixtures involving Stirling Albion, Peterhead and Elgin City.

Love has until Monday to decide whether to appeal the ruling and Clyde say they will not comment “until the process has been completed”.

However, anti-racism campaigner­s have called on the Scottish FA to do more to fight discrimina­tion than just banning players found guilty of throwing insults.

Nicola Hay, campaign manager for Show Racism the Red Card Scotland, said: “SRTRC supports the SFA imposing bans on players found guilty of racial abuse or any other form of discrimina­tion.

“However, we would further suggest the SFA encourages players and officials across the country to engage in anti-racism training and education more broadly to challenge attitudes and avoid these situations arising in the first place.

“Simply banning players when instances of racial abuse are caught does not fully address the issue.”

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