HARINGEY BOSS PULLED 'FRIGHTENED' PLAYERS OFF PITCH AFTER RACIST ABUSE
Haringey Borough manager Tom Loizou took his players off the pitch as their FA Cup tie with Yeovil was abandoned over alleged racist abuse.
Loizou said defender Coby Rowe suffered racial abuse by a small minority of supporters while Cameroonian goalkeeper Douglas Pajetat was also spat at, prompting him to pull his players off after 64 minutes of the fourth-round qualifying tie.
The Football Association has already launched an investigation, saying it was "deeply concerned", while Yeovil have said they will cooperate with the authorities, with the Metropolitan Police also looking into the allegations.
Loizou told Sky Sports News: "Early into the second half, we got a corner and a couple of the players said to me there was monkey chants.
"We got over that, we carried on playing. They got a penalty and my goalkeeper was spat at and had missiles thrown at him.
"The referee halted the game briefly, they scored the penalty, one of players went to pick the ball out of the back of the net and Coby Rowe was racially abused.
"We tried to calm the supporters down but more balls were thrown on to the pitch. The referee was a bit indecisive as to what to do.
"I looked at a couple of our players' faces and I was distraught myself, just to see their faces. I gave it a couple of minutes and I went on the pitch and pulled my players off.
"There was no way that two or three of those players could have continued playing. What they heard was disgusting, they looked frightened.
"I can't sit down and watch young players being abused by a minority."
Rowe later took to Twitter to confirm he was targeted, posting: "Can't believe I'm tweeting this and it's 2019 but today I was a victim of racism, in what was supposed to be a great day for @HaringeyBoroFC. Another game of football ruined by racists."
The FA swiftly released a statement saying it was looking into the incident "as a matter of urgency".
"We are deeply concerned about the allegation of discrimination from an area of the crowd towards a player during the FA Cup fourth round qualifying match between Haringey Borough and Yeovil Town, which resulted in the fixture being abandoned," said the governing body.
"There is no room for discrimination in our game and we are working with the match officials and the relevant authorities, as a matter of urgency, to fully establish the facts and take the appropriate steps."
The Met Police also issued a statement, saying: "Police are investigating reports of racist comments made during a match between Haringey Borough and Yeovil on Saturday, October 19.
Published: by Radio NewsHub