Millwall fans throw bottles, boo anti-racism and make homophobic chants, Ashley Cole racially abused at Swindon
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Updated 08/01/2022 at 17:49 GMT
Millwall are back in the news for more crowd trouble after their fans booed players who were taking the knee ahead of their game against Crystal Palace. They also subjected Conor Gallagher to homophobic abuse and threw a bottle at Michael Olise. On Friday, Ashley Cole was racially abused as he worked as a pundit for Swindon v Man City.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 08: Billy Mitchell of Millwall and Jean Philippe Mateta of Crystal Palace i during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Millwall and Crystal Palace at The Den on January 08, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott
Image credit: Getty Images
Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise was hit by a bottle, Conor Gallagher was targeted by homophobic chants, and Ashley Cole was racially abused during the weekend’s FA Cup third round.
Palace won 2-1 at The Den to reach the fourth round, which began with a number of Millwall fans booing players who took the knee to protest against racism.
The fans then followed that up by striking Olise with a bottle in the second half, and Gallagher was the subject of the chants throughout the game.
Millwall released a statement saying they would investigate the incidents.
"Millwall Football Club has a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of discrimination and will investigate any incident of alleged abuse accordingly. As is club policy, any individual found guilty of discriminatory abuse is issued with an immediate lifetime ban," confirmed a club spokesperson.
Elsewhere, Ashley Cole was racially abused as he worked as a pundit on Friday’s FA Cup tie between Swindon and Manchester City.
Wiltshire police have opened an investigation and Swindon owner Clem Morfuni apologised for the incident.
Morfuni said: "During our FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester City at the County Ground, we sadly received reports of racial abuse towards Ashley Cole, who was part of ITV's broadcast team.
"We are absolutely saddened and deeply disgusted by this, and we cannot stress strongly enough that racial abuse of any kind will not be tolerated by Swindon Town Football Club.
Racism has no place in the world, and it is incredibly heartbreaking that this still has a place in our game.
"We are currently working with Wiltshire Police on gathering evidence, but those responsible will be punished accordingly.
"On behalf of everyone at Swindon Town Football Club, we send out our heartfelt apologies to Ashley Cole, and it is with our deepest regret that you had to experience that last night.
"Those few individuals do not represent Swindon Town and will not be welcome at the County Ground."
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