A Chelsea fan has been banned from football matches for three years after racially abusing a Manchester City fan.
Anthony Crump, 28, was convicted on Wednesday (9 June) at Tameside Magistrates Court of intentional racially aggravated harassment, alarm and distress, following the incident at the Etihad Stadium on November 23 2019.
During the match, Crump referred to the City supporter using a racial slur, which the City supporter then reported to a steward.
The exchange then continued, and the racial slur repeated again, this time witnessed by a steward deployed on the segregation line and another Manchester City supporter.
Following a trial, Crump, of Hereford Close, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, has been handed a three-year football banning order, as well as being ordered to pay a £1,700 fine.
Police Constable Matt Ford from the Special Operations Branch said: "Crump has a history of poor behaviour concerning football, and his actions towards a fellow football fan during what should have been an enjoyable game are shocking and unacceptable.
"No member of society should have to face abuse - and this applies for anyone, regardless of sporting rivalry.
"With fans hopefully continuing to return to stadiums in the coming weeks and months, this conviction is a reminder to anyone who thinks of engaging in such intolerable abuse that we will work robustly to prosecute perpetrators of hate crime and bring them to some justice.
'We would like to thank the victim, and witnesses in this instance, who gave evidence to support this successful prosecution. Racist behaviour at football events will not be tolerated, and every effort will be made to place individuals, who commit such offences, before the courts."
