Friday’s Premier League opening game between Liverpool and Bournemouth was stopped in the 28th minute after Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused by a man in the Anfield crowd.
Merseyside Police confirmed a 47-year-old was ejected from the stadium after the man’s identity was confirmed by ground staff.
“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,” said chief inspector Kev Chatterton.
Cherries forward Semenyo was also subjected to racist abuse on Instagram on Friday night. The 25-year-old shared some of the abuse on his story, with the caption: “when will it stop?”
The Ghana international went on to score two goals to claw the game back to 2-2 in the second half, before the champions went on to win 4-2.
Managers Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola were spoken to by the referee Anthony Taylor when the incident at Anfield occurred, leading to the game being paused.
“I am told via the Premier League Match Centre that Antoine Semenyo was the subject of a racist comment from the crowd,” reported Sky Sports’ Peter Drury on commentary.
“It was Semenyo himself who brought attention to it.”
Bournemouth captain Adam Smith labelled the incident as “unacceptable” while head coach Iraola added: “It’s a big shame, most of the news will be about this thing. Obviously, it is something that is still a big problem, not just in football.
“From the Liverpool side, they have identified this person.”
Semenyo abuse: Smith ‘angry’ and ‘sorry’
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Cherries skipper Smith said he was “angry” and “shocked” by the incident.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” he said. “I’m in shock that it happened. In this day and age, it shouldn’t be happening. I don’t know how Ant has played on and come up with those goals.
“I feel sorry for Ant. He’s a little bit down. Something needs to be done. Taking a knee is not having an effect. We’ll support him in there and hopefully he’ll be okay.
“I wanted him (Semenyo) to react because that’s what I would have done. I would have gone straight over there. It shows what type of man he is to not react, even in the moment when it happened to not react, to carry on, then he reported it to the ref.
“To come up with those goals shows what type of guy he is and what type of character he has. Fair play to Ant.
“It’s more angry, to be honest. Shocked. I said to the ref I wanted him (the supporter) removed immediately. He said we have to go through a process and the police will sort it.
“The Liverpool players were very supportive as well to Antoine and the rest of the team. I think it was handled in the right way, but just so angry.
“We’ve had discussions with the Premier League [about discriminatory comments] so they’ve been taking it seriously, but speaking to some of the lads in there, I don’t know what else we can do.
“We’ve been doing it for a long time now and no one is getting it. I don’t know what to say anymore. I just feel sorry for Ant, who has had to take that tonight. The whole country is watching and for that to happen is shocking.”
