The day English football hit an all-time low FA CUP MATCH IS ABANDONED AFTER KEEPER ABUSED BY FANS
ENGLISH football was in the dock last night as Haringey Borough’s FA Cup tie with Yeovil had to be abandoned following racial abuse.
Haringey players walked off the pitch after visiting Yeovil fans threw sickening insults at goalkeeper Valery Douglas Pajetat.
Just days after England’s stars were subjected to racial chants in Bulgaria, Yeovil supporters brought shame on the game here.
Cameroon-born Pajetat claims he was the subject of racist taunts and was spat at by away fans. Bottles were also thrown at him from the away end – sparking the mass walk-off from both sides with 64 minutes played.
The game, with a place in the FA Cup first round proper up for grabs, was held up for more than 20 minutes and eventually abandoned before the players returned to the pitch together in a show of solidarity.
The FA have launched an investigation and said they were “deeply concerned” about the allegations.
Haringey boss Tom Loizou, who asserted that his defender Coby Rowe was also racially abused, said: “If we get punished and thrown out, I don’t care. It’s very distressing – the abuse a few of my players got was disgusting.
“I took the decision to take my team off. I have not done it for any other reason than looking into my players’ faces and seeing how distraught they were. They are not used to this.”
Yeovil boss Darren Sarll said: “On behalf of Yeovil Town, we fully support Haringey and we stand together – there was no way I’d support racial discrimination. I feel we’ve done the right thing.”
Trouble erupted as Rhys Murphy was preparing to take a penalty for the visitors when Yeovil fans began throwing objects at Pajetat.
After a long hold-up, Murphy scored but tempers flared and the home side opted to walk off.
Pajetat was said to be “visibly upset” while team- mate Rowe had to be restrained by security. The incident comes less than a week after Raheem Sterling, Tyrone Mings and Marcus Rashford suffered shocking racial abuse. The England trio were subject to monkey chants while fans in Sofia were also pictured doing Nazi salutes.
Gareth Southgate and his players considered walking off the pitch after UEFA protocol had twice stopped the game, but elected to stay on.
Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said: “The Haringey manager and players took swift and decisive action.”