A GAME involving a West Ham representative team featuring Anton Ferdinand was shockingly suspended last night in America amid allegations of racism.
The Hammers were taking on Dallas United at The Soccer Tournament, a $1million winner-take-all event, when the English side walked off amid the alleged abuse.
Various reports have claimed that ex-West Ham ace Frank Nouble was called the n-word by a Dallas player at the event in Cary, North Carolina.
Clips soon went viral on social media of Ferdinand, brother of Manchester United legend Rio and who was involved in race row with John Terry in 2011, looking irate as tensions threatened to boil over.
The 38-year-old, who played for St-Mirren in 2019 after spells at Southend, Reading, stints in Turkey and Thailand, was caught telling one rival player: “Why are you looking at me for? I’ll punch you up.”
Then in another, moments before he and his team walk off, he says: “I am here to set a precedent, now.”
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Dallas have now left the tournament and their game scheduled for later today has been cancelled.
They insist, despite reports elsewhere, that decision is of their own making and that they have not been disqualified.
But a statement from The Soccer Tournament organisers read: “After conducting an investigation into the final moments of the match between West Ham United and Dallas United, we have concluded that Dallas United violated TST’s code of conduct.
“We have been in dialogue with leadership from both clubs and we are all aligned that the best path forward is Dallas United withdrawing from competition.
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“All parties involved are unified in wanting to make a statement against racial insensitivity.
“We seek to run an event that is not only fiercely high stakes for all competitors, but also one in which all competitors feel safe and protected.
“As a result, tomorrow’s game between Dallas United and Far East United has been cancelled.”
A Dallas statement said they had chosen to pull-out of the event, saying: “In light of the shadow cast by an opposing player’s accusation during tonight’s match, the Dallas United players unanimously decided to withdraw from the remainder of the competition. Our coaches and staff fully support the team’s decision.
“We thank TST7v7 for the opportunity to compete in the tournament.”
West Ham were losing 2-0 when the incident occurred in what appeared to be a heated clash between the two sides after other clips showed a number of fierce challenges throughout the contest.
The Hammers players, who are still scheduled to play their next game tonight, were applauded by the crowd as they left the pitch.
According to ESPN, Ferdinand was asked what happened afterwards but he simply replied: “Racism.”
The report also added that the referee for the game said he did not hear what is alleged to have been said.
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Carlton Cole, Marlon Harewood, Luis Boa Morte, Matt Jarvis and Jack Collison are all part of the squad that travelled Stateside to take part.
The Soccer Tournament is a 32-team seven-a-side event featuring past and present stars, and includes teams from Wrexham, Borussia Dortmund and Hashtag United.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
