Antoine Semenyo thanks football world for support after he reports racist abuse

By Carl Markham, PA

Antoine Semenyo said the response to his report of racist abuse from a Liverpool fan showed football at its best.

The opening match of the new Premier League season at Anfield on Friday night was briefly halted in the first half after Bournemouth forward Semenyo was targeted by a supporter.

The incident was strongly condemned by representatives of both teams while the Premier League has said it will launch a full investigation.

A post shared by Antoine Semenyo (@antoinesemenyo42)

Writing on social media, Semenyo said: “Last night at Anfield will stay with me forever – not because of one person’s words, but because of how the entire football family stood together.

“To my @afcb team-mates who supported me in that moment, to the @liverpoolfc players and fans who showed their true character, to the @premierleague officials who handled it professionally – thank you. Football showed its best side when it mattered most.

“Scoring those two goals felt like speaking the only language that truly matters on the pitch. This is why I play – for moments like these, for my team-mates, for everyone who believes in what this beautiful game can be.

“The overwhelming messages of support from across the football world remind me why I love this sport. We keep moving forward, together.”

The PA news agency understands police officers went into the referee’s room at half-time, while an anti-discrimination message was read out to the Anfield crowd.

Semenyo pulled Bournemouth level with two goals in the second half before Liverpool went on to claim a 4-2 win.

The 25-year-old also highlighted racist abuse on Instagram, and PA understands Meta, the social media platform’s parent company, is investigating and taking action against the offending comments and accounts, some of which are being disabled.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk believes football has to continue to try to educate the next generation about racism after labelling the abuse aimed at Semenyo as a “disgrace”.

While Van Dijk agreed it was symptomatic of a wider problem not restricted to football, he said greater attempts had to be made to change the mindset as campaigns like taking the knee and ‘Kick Racism out of football’ had not been able to eradicate the issue.

“What else can we do? Because this is the very odd one (case) that has managed to say something that is obviously a disgrace,” he said.

“The only thing we can do is deal with it by dealing with him personally and try to educate the next generation. That is the only way to try and kick it out, in my opinion.

“I can’t believe it. These things shouldn’t happen but unfortunately it does and it is an absolute disgrace in my eyes.

“First and foremost these things should never happen in the world, not only football. I am happy to say I don’t see it happening up until today actually.

“But in general racism is not of this world in my opinion, but if we are to be realistic, unfortunately, it still exists and that is the painful side of it.

“We have to deal with it in the here and now.”

Van Dijk offered words of support to Semenyo, 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.

“I’ve had loads of conversations with him about it: first and foremost I wanted to know what happened and I am glad the authorities are dealing with it all.

“But we stand with him completely and anything he needs for support, I am here for him. We are all here for him, to be honest, but the club as well and they are dealing with it in the right way, I am fully confident about that.”

Merseyside Police said a 47-year-old man was removed from the ground and an investigation was under way after his identity was confirmed.

Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander for the 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.”

The incident came two days after Tottenham’s Mathys Tel received racist abuse online after missing a penalty in his side’s Super Cup win against Paris St Germain.