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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rich Jones

Haringey Borough walk off in FA Cup tie vs Yeovil after goalkeeper 'racially abused'

Haringey Borough's FA Cup fourth qualifying round clash with Yeovil was abandoned after the home side walked off the pitch amid reports their goalkeeper was racially abused.

Rhys Murphy was preparing to take a penalty for the visitors in the 64th minute when Yeovil fans appeared to throw objects at home goalkeeper Valery Douglas Pajetat.

Murphy converted the spot-kick but tempers flared and the home side opted to walk off the pitch, with Pajetat said to be "visibly upset" as he alleged he was the subject of racist taunts and spat at by away fans.

Team-mate Coby Rowe amongst those to react angrily and be restrained by security as players from both sides left the pitch.

Yeovil's captain went over to speak to his own supporters, as did the referee, before players from the home side opted to leave the pitch.

Haringey Borough players walked off int he second half against Yeovil (James Fearn/PPAUK)

Security attempted to escort a number of supporters out of the stadium but they resisted and refused to leave.

The game, with a place in the first round proper up for grabs, was held up for more than 20 minutes with players back in the changing rooms as officials considered how to deal with the incident.

The game was eventually abandoned and players from both sides returned to the pitch together in a show of solidarity.

Haringey Borough tweeted shortly after the abandonment stating: "Sorry for the late update but wanted to make sure we gave correct information.

"Game has been abandoned following racial abuse. Horrendous afternoon. It must be said that 99.9% of @YTFC fans are also disgusted by what’s happened as much as we are.

"One club, one community."

Coby Rowe of Haringey Borough was restrained after the incident (James Fearn/PPAUK)

The football anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out praised the "swift and decisive action" taken by the Haringey manager Tom Loizou and his players, comparing their response to that of the England team in last week's Euro 2020 qualifier in Bulgaria.

Kick It Out said in a statement on Twitter: "The reports relating to events at Haringey Borough FC this afternoon, in The FA Cup tie with Yeovil Town, are of alleged racist abuse aimed at their goalkeeper, (Valery) Douglas Pajetat, and yet again means players are continuing to receive discriminatory abuse while doing their job.

Haringey Borough goalkeeper Pajetat reported being spat at and racially abused (James Fearn/PPAUK)

"The Haringey manager and players took swift and decisive action as a result of the abuse, similar to that taken by the England team out in Bulgaria just five days ago.

"Kick It Out has informed The FA and will support the club in identifying the offender(s) to ensure appropriate action is taken and strong punishment issued.

"We would also like to offer our full support to Douglas and all at Haringey Borough FC."

Cameroonian goalkeeper Pajetat, at the centre of the incident, played in Portugal for a number of years before joining Margate in 2016.

He joined Haringey Borough, who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, in 2017 and has established himself as their first-choice goalkeeper.

Fans backed their side as they walked off the pitch (Twitter)

The alleged incident comes just days after England's game with Bulgaria was twice halted in the first half with players threatening to walk off over racial abuse.

After the sickening scenes in Sofia, FA chief Greg Clarke noted that racism remained an issue in the English game.

He said: "I think at UEFA we need to really address that, but to be perfectly frank we also still need to address racism in England.

Yeovil's Lawson D'Ath remonstrated with his own supporters (James Fearn/PPAUK)

"We still have it, we have it throughout the pyramid, we see examples of it every week from the professional game down to the grassroots game.

"We shouldn't take the moral high ground, we should join a movement to drive racism out of our game and have zero tolerance for it."

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