A 47-year-old man has been arrested after a Bournemouth player reported being racially abused during his team’s match against Liverpool on Friday, police have said.
A second arrest over racist abuse was made at a separate game on Saturday at the University of Bradford Stadium, Bradford City AFC said.
The man from Liverpool was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and has been taken into custody to be interviewed, Merseyside police said.
During Friday’s fixture, Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused by a spectator, prompting the match referee, Anthony Taylor, to stop play in the 29th minute during the first Premier League fixture of the season. A 47-year-old man was ejected from the stadium.
Ch Insp Kev Chatterton, the match commander for the Liverpool v Bournemouth game, previously 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 FC 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 match referee, Anthony Taylor, spoke with the managers Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola after Semenyo reported being abused.
On Saturday, Bradford City AFC said West Yorkshire police had made an arrest during a game at the University of Bradford Stadium.
The club said: “Bradford City AFC is aware of an allegation of racist abuse from an individual in the away section towards one of our players during today’s Sky Bet League One game against Luton Town.
“Bradford City AFC strongly condemns racism and discrimination in all forms. We have a zero tolerance policy to such unacceptable behaviour.”
In an interview, Bradford’s manager, Graham Alexander, said there was no place in football for racism, adding: “We saw it last night at the Liverpool game – it has to be zero tolerance. There’s no excuse for it, at all.”
