Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo calls for tougher punishments for racial abuse in football

Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo calls for tougher punishments for racial abuse in football after being allegedly targeted at Anfield.

In an interview with ITV News this week, Semenyo recounted experiencing racial abuse from a fan during a match against Liverpool, just 30 minutes into the new season, amid emotional tributes for Jota’s brother.

He remained calm, immediately reported it to the referee, and channeled his anger into scoring two goals.

Semenyo expressed shock and sadness, criticising current punishments as insufficient and calling for maximum penalties like jail time or lifetime stadium bans to deter such incidents.

He also faced online abuse after posting on Instagram but remains mentally resilient, advocating for players to report abuse, continue anti-racism campaigns like taking the knee, and seek support from family, the PFA, and FA.

He hopes his experience sparks positive change in football and society, emphasising unity and not letting it define his season.

“It’s unacceptable, it shouldn’t be happening in this day and age. The punishment has to be the maximum,” he said.

“It could be jail time, it could be banned from stadiums for a lifetime, it could be anything along the lines of that, but I feel like there has to be something else.

“I’m speaking out for all players: if it does happen, make sure that the maximum punishment is something that happens.

“Those (anti-racism) campaigns, they’ve worked for a while but for the long term it hasn’t really worked. I feel like something else needs to be done.”

On if he felt the level of attention around the incident would act as a deterrent in future, Semenyo replied: “I’d like to think so.

“I hope it does, but if it doesn’t, then it just shows that what we’re doing, what the Premier League are doing, it’s not enough and there’s more to be done.”

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters echoed similar sentiments last weekend, telling BBC Sport: “No Premier League footballer should ever have to, in their workplace or online, suffer that sort of abuse.

“It makes people like me and other football people in charge of the game think twice about what else we can do to ensure that these things don’t happen in the future.

“If you are found to be using discriminatory language inside a football ground you will be ejected, second you will be banned, and third you may face criminal charges.

“I feel like in this day and age it just doesn’t make sense and we want to know why it keeps happening. It was pretty painful to hea.

“I got back on the coach and I was just going through my messages. I wanted to reply back to family and friends, to be honest and then it obviously popped across the screen on Instagram, I was getting racially abused as well, and it’s just like straight after the game that’s happened.

“Someone has felt the need to come online and do that, so that made me angry, to be honest. Why would you want to do that?”

MERSEYSIDE POLICE STATEMENT:

We can confirm that a man has been conditionally bailed after he was arrested following reports that racist abuse was directed towards Bournemouth player Antoine Semenyo.

A 47-year-old man from Liverpool was arrested on Saturday 16 August on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. He has now been bailed with conditions, which includes not to attend any regulated football match in the UK and not to go within one mile of a designated football stadium.

An investigation into the incident, which occurred during a Premier League match between Liverpool and Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday 15 August, remains ongoing and we continue to work closely with the club.

To report a hate crime contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If, for any reason, you do not wish to report a hate crime to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK to run a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org. You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Issued at 3.18pm on Saturday 16 August:

We have arrested a man following reports racist abuse was directed towards Bournemouth player Antoine Semenyo during his team’s Premier League fixture versus Liverpool at Anfield on Friday 15 August.

The suspect’s identity was confirmed and he was removed from the ground following the report.

A 47-year-old man from Liverpool has today (Saturday 16 August) been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. He has been taken into custody to be interviewed.

To report a hate crime contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If, for any reason, you do not wish to report a hate crime to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK to run a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org. You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Issued 11.19pm Friday 15 August:

We can confirm a 47-year-old man has been ejected from Anfield Stadium following reports of racist abuse directed towards the Bournemouth player Antoine Semenyo at this evening’s opening game of the season between Liverpool and Bournemouth.

An investigation is underway after the man’s identity was confirmed and he was removed from the ground.

Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton the match commander for the Liverpool v Bournemouth game, said: “Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form.

“We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible.”

He added: “There is no place for racism and it is vital that anyone who witnesses such an offence reports it to stewards, or the police immediately, so we can take the necessary action like we did this evening.

“As with all matches, we work very closely with both Liverpool and Everton FC to ensure the safety of the public , and the players.”

A spokesperson for Liverpool Football Club, said: “Liverpool Football Club is aware of an allegation of racist abuse made during our Premier League game against Bournemouth.

“We condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, it has no place in society, or football.

“The club is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged is incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully.”

To report a hate crime contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If, for any reason, you do not wish to report a hate crime to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK to run a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org. You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.