Oldham Athletic vow to take ‘strongest possible action’ after a racist comment was allegedly aimed at a club chief during a pre-season game at Ashton United on the same weekend as England stars Rashford, Saka and Sancho were abused
- Oldham Athletic reported a racial comment was aimed at one of their directors
- The League Two club is working with police to identify who made the comment
- Oldham vowed to take the ‘strongest possible action’ in a club statement
- The incident came on the same weekend as England’s black players were abused
League Two Oldham have vowed to take ‘the strongest possible action’ over an allegation of racist abuse at the club’s first pre-season friendly against Ashton United.
The Latics are working with Greater Manchester Police to identify those responsible for comments made to a club director at the Hurst Cross Stadium, the home of their Northern Premier League Premier Division opponents, on Saturday.
A statement on the club’s official website said: ‘It is with great sadness that Oldham Athletic has to report that racist comments were made at Ashton United last weekend towards one of the club’s directors.
Oldham Athletic announced a club director was racially abused during a pre-season game
‘We all understand that football is a game built on opinion and emotion, but as recent events in the sport show, clubs will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to discriminatory behaviour to help enact positive change to make the game for everyone.
‘As a result, the club are working closely with Greater Manchester Police who have offered their support and guidance to help identify those involved and will take the strongest possible action in conjunction with other relevant authorities to ensure this type of behaviour is eradicated from society.’
The news comes amid widespread condemnation of the online abuse England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka received after missing penalties in the shoot-out at the end of the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday night.
Bukayo Saka is consoled by England team-mates following his penalty miss which led to racist abuse of the Arsenal star
Marcus Rashford (L) and Jadon Sancho were also abused after missing penalties against Italy