Kick it Out’s Troy Townsend admits anti-racism group let Jonathan Leko down after he was racially abused by Kiko Casilla
KICK IT OUT figurehead Troy Townsend admits the anti-racism group let Jonathan Leko down after he was racially abused by Leeds keeper Kiko Casilla.
West Brom star Leko accused Kick It Out, Show Racism the Red Card and the PFA of offering no support to him as he went through the process of making a complaint against Casilla.
Townsend, the equality group's head of development, insists he did make contact with Charlton Athletic - where Leko was on loan - in the aftermath of the incident in September.
But there were no further conversations in the following five months before Casilla was finally hit with an eight match ban by the FA last week, leading to Leko making a public complaint over being left on his own.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Townsend admitted: “There’s absolutely no defence. I’m sorry.
“I don’t think people are hurting as I am for actually letting Jonathan Leko down. That’s the problem, people don’t care enough in the game about players’ wellbeing.
“I’m hurting, whether people believe it or not, for the fact he’s had to go through what he went through, for the length of time he has gone through it and the fact he felt the need, and quite rightly, to send out that strong statement.
I don’t want to make excuses, I’m happy for the buck stopping with me, because ultimately there are other ways you can contact an individual.
Troy Townsend
“I have to follow a process when situations like this happen, and I followed that process.
“I reached out to Jonathan through two members of the football club he was representing at the time and I’ve got to take their word as gospel that the message will get to Jonathan and if he needed support, they would direct him to me.”
Challenged by the fact Leko said he had got no support, Townsend added: “That means, then, that the breakdown in communication is not from my side, it’s from the club’s side.
“But I don’t want to make excuses, I’m happy for the buck stopping with me, because ultimately there are other ways you can contact an individual.
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“We try to be respectful in this game, we try and do the right thing by the clubs and the players by following the correct process, and that correct process has let Jonathan Leko down.
“If I’m part of that process, then of course I’ve let him down."
SunSport understands Charlton believe they were contacted twice by Kick It Out immediately after the incident on September 28, but only to discuss the group making a public statement.