TWO Birmingham fans have been arrested after an allegation of racist abuse aimed at Peterborough’s Nathan Thompson.
The incident is alleged to have occurred during the second half of Saturday’s Championship fixture at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Defender Thompson made a complaint of racist abuse from visiting fans to ref Jarred Gillett.
Peterborough said in a statement: “Peterborough can confirm that two Birmingham supporters have been arrested following the allegation of racist abuse aimed towards defender Nathan Thompson during the second half of Saturday’s Championship fixture at the Weston Homes Stadium.
“Thompson reported the incident straight away to the match official who spoke with the fourth official before the two individuals were identified and detained.
“The football club condemns any form of discrimination and will work with the authorities.”
Birmingham said in a statement the club has a “zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination”.
The Blues added they “will continue to assist the police in their investigations” and would “firmly support the action taken against anyone found guilty of such abhorrent behaviour.”
The Posh shook off the unsavoury incident to seal a 3-0 win over the visiting Birmingham.
A Harlee Dean own-goal gave Peterborough the lead after just one minute.
That was followed by a Jonson Clarke-Harris penalty before Jorge Grant wrapped up the scoring five minutes into the second half.
It comes after three England stars who suffered racist abuse over their Euros penalty misses.
Marcus Rashford, 21, Jadon Sancho, 20, and Bukayo Saka, 19, received vile online abuse after missing penalties in England’s Euro final shootout against Italy.
England captain Harry Kane, 27, also backed the youngsters who failed to convert their penalties.
‘VILE ABUSE’
The Spurs striker tweeted: “Three lads who were brilliant all summer had the courage to step up & take a pen when the stakes were high.
“They deserve support & backing and not the vile racist abuse they’ve had since last night. If you abuse anyone on social media you’re not an England fan and we don’t want you.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel both condemned the online trolls, as well as calling for social media giants to do more.
TV pundit and England legend Rio Ferdinand urged Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to take action.
He tweeted: “You can bet ya last pound they would have sung the Raheem Sterling song almost bursting the veins in their bodies doing so.
“But England lose and that joy and sense of being united immediately evaporates and our black players become the target.
“Social media companies please can we come together in creating a way to protect people on your platforms please…. Our young heroes need your attention too!”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
