The director of a UK-based racial equality think tank has criticised the Metropolitan Police for investigating a banner criticising Newcastle's new owners held aloft by Crystal Palace supporters in their game against the Magpies on Saturday.
The banner, which was displayed in the moments prior to kick-off at Selhurst Park, took aim at the Premier League Director's and Owners' Test and the Saudi regime itself, with the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF) having recently acquired a controlling stake in Newcastle United.
In response, Croydon Metropolitan Police released a statement saying they would be carrying out enquiries, and have since been in contact with Crystal Palace to request information about the incident.
However, Sunder Katwala, director of racial equality think tank British Future, says the police's involvement in the matter is unjustified and undermines the wider efforts to stamp out racism and hate speech in football.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: "The police should be able to establish that there's nothing to investigate. It's a cartoon of an identifiable individual.
"It's a robust condemnation of the Saudi regime and the murder of a journalist and a criticism of the Saudi state. That's political speech. I don't think a criticism of the ruler of Saudi Arabia can be said to be racist abuse.
"It's important to look for racism and hate speech in football, but it undermines efforts to tackle it if the police start calling things racist abuse that are part of free speech and political comment."
Palace have privately said that they had no prior knowledge of the banner being brought into the ground, which was held aloft just as both sets of players walked out of the tunnel ready to start the match,
The club have been asked by the police for more information about the incident and are co-operating with them.
