Liverpool urge investigation after U18s sent off for racism

Liverpool FC have called for an “urgent investigation” after their U18 team left the club following alleged racist abuse during two youth matches in Germany.

The Reds’ games in the youth Bundesliga cup tournament against Hoffenheim on Friday and Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday were abandoned due to alleged racism towards the same player.

A club statement said: “Liverpool can confirm that a member of our U18 team has reported that he was subjected to racist abuse by an opponent during a match in the Bundesliga Cup youth tournament in Schwäbisch Hall on Friday.”

“The player immediately alerted the referee, his teammates and our coaching staff. The LFC management team then decided to stop the game and leave the field together.

“In another incident, the same player was the victim of verbal abuse during a tournament match (on Saturday). Again, the player alerted his teammates and the coaching staff and our management team again decided to leave the field.”

Liverpool supported its players’ decision to leave the field in both cases and called for an investigation into the incidents.

“We are proud of our player for reporting the incident so quickly and reacting so maturely. He and all affected teammates are being supported by the academy’s security team,” the club said.

“The club calls on our opponents and the tournament organizers to investigate the incident urgently and thoroughly.”

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Eintracht sporting director Timmo Hardung said the club took the accusation “seriously”, but insisted that it was a “linguistic problem” related to a term commonly used in Germany.

“Our entire youth performance center, like Eintracht Frankfurt, is multicultural and we have clear values ​​that we live by and continually demand,” says Hardung.

“Racism has no place with us, but we still take such accusations seriously.

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“We can rule out racism, it is a language problem and therefore hope to have cleared up the misunderstanding between the players concerned and Liverpool officials.”

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