Newcastle United launch investigation after alleged racist gesture made towards Tottenham fans during match
Newcastle United Football Club has launched an investigation after an individual allegedly made a racist gesture towards Tottenham supporters during a Premier League match.
Police have also been made aware of the incident which occurred at St James’ Park this past Sunday.
Though the club has not specified what the gesture entailed, a photograph that circulated on Twitter yesterday appeared to show a man performing a Nazi salute at the club’s stadium.
On its website, the football club released a statement yesterday in which they wrote: “Our message is clear – football is for everyone. Discrimination has absolutely no place in football, in the street, online or in wider society and we will not tolerate it under any circumstances.
“Newcastle United will pursue the strongest possible action against anyone involved in discriminatory behaviour and will support any efforts by the authorities to secure a criminal conviction. The club is adhering to the Premier League commitment regarding Abusive and Discriminatory conduct, which facilitates the banning of any fan found to have been involved in abusive and/or discriminatory conduct from all Premier League stadia.”
It continued: “For this alleged incident to take place at a time when all Premier League clubs are visibly supporting the No Room For Racism campaign shows the work we all have ahead of us, to which we remain absolutely committed.”
Urging fans to report discriminatory behaviour at St James’ Park, they asked people to “please text HELP followed by your seat location and details of the incident to 60070”.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm we are investigating an alleged racist incident during Newcastle United’s home fixture with Tottenham at St James’ Park on Sunday. Enquiries are ongoing with the club to identify anyone involved and ascertain whether criminal offences have been committed.
“As a force, we do not tolerate hate crime of any kind within our communities and are committed to taking swift and robust action against perpetrators.”
Last week, a poster with the words “Achtung Juden”, which is German for “Attention Jews”, put up by the Millwall Berserkers hooligan group was found near Millwall Football Club stadium. The poster also featured the cockerel from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s logo with its head detached from its body and lying in blood.
The Premier League adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism last December.
