LONDON, 7 May. (dpa/EP) –
Crystal Palace has vowed to penalize a spectator who allegedly insulted South Korean Tottenham Hotspur striker Heung-min Son during Saturday’s Premier League match.
Images circulated on social media of a man in the away stands at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium allegedly making a racist gesture towards Son.
The incident occurred in the 89th minute of a 1-0 win against Spurs; captain Son was replaced by substitute Arnaut Danjuma, but he had to walk to the outside of the pitch and past the Palace supporters.
“We are aware of a video circulating on the internet of an individual in the ‘Spurs’ away field yesterday, who appears to be making racist gestures towards Heung-min Son. The evidence has been shared with the police, and when he is identified, “He will face a club sanction. We will not tolerate this type of behavior at our club,” Crystal Palace said in a statement.
Tottenham also reacted. “We are aware of an allegation of racial abuse towards Heung-min Son during yesterday’s match. Discrimination of any kind is abhorrent and has no place in society, in our game and in our club. We are working with the Metropolitan Police and Crystal Palace to investigate and identify the individual involved,” he said.
“We will do everything in our power to ensure that, if found guilty, the individual receives the strongest possible action, as was the case earlier this season when Son suffered similar racial abuse at Chelsea,” he added.
Son also suffered racist abuse during a match between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in August. Chelsea have indefinitely banned a season ticket holder after footage surfaced on social media of a fan in the local area making a racist gesture at Son during their 2-2 draw.
In March, the Crown Prosecution Service handed down a sentence against the Chelsea fan and he was banned from attending live football matches for three years.