Man City abandon match after alleged racial abuse

On Tuesday evening, Patrick Vieira walked his ‘Elite Development Squad’ off the pitch in the middle of an Under-21 match in Croatia. It was alleged that City midfielder, Seiko Fofana, was racially abused by an opposing player. After consulting the referee, Vieira abandoned the match against HNK Ryeka.

In an official statement, Manchester City wrote:

The EDS U21 game with HNK Rijeka has today been cancelled due to an alleged incident of racial abuse toward the Club's young midfielder, Seko Fofana by a member of the opposing team.

Following an alleged incident in the latter stages of the first half of the game, being played in Novigrad, Croatia, a decision was taken by the management staff to withdraw the City team from the field of play and cancel the game.

Club representatives in Croatia and in Manchester are liaising with officials, the match organisers and the Croatian Football Association to pursue this matter further”.

However, the Croatian side appear to be unaware of any such incident. HNK Ryeka’s statement read:

Manchester City coach Patrick Vieira entered the field, something was discussed with the referee, and then to the amazement of a well-filled stadium he took his team off the pitch. What were the reasons? They are known only to him.’

This is not an isolated incident for Manchester City however. In March, Devante Cole, son of retired striker Andy Cole, was racially abused by Atletico Madrid fans in a youth match. UEFA took action on that occasion by issuing a fine of €10,000 (£8,000) and partial closure of their youth stadium.

But it would appear such problems are commonplace on the continent. Ghanaian midfielder, Kevin-Prince Boateng, also abandoned a match after suffering racial abuse. Supporters from Italian club, Pro Patria, chanted racial abuse for the first 30 minutes of the game in January last year. Boateng reacted angrily by kicking the ball towards the section of the crowd participating in the chants and subsequently left the pitch.

Numerous other incidents including Yaya Toure, Danny Rose and Mario Balotelli have been reported in recent years, with UEFA coming under scrutiny for a perceived lack of action.

An investigation into Tuesday’s incident in Croatia is currently underway:

Following an alleged incident in the latter stages of the first half of the game, being played in Novigrad, Croatia, a decision was taken by the management staff to withdraw the City team from the field of play and cancel the game.

Club representatives in Croatia and in Manchester are liaising with officials, the match organisers and the Croatian Football Association to pursue this matter further.”

City are coached by Patrick Vieira, who as an Arsenal player in 2000 was a victim of racist abuse from Lazio’s Sinisa Mihajlovic. Rijeka were leading 1-0 when play was abandoned.

Adam Sinclair Charles