Brentford fan arrested for alleged ‘racially aggravated’ offence against Derby ace Duane Holmes
Frank Lampard hit out at the abuse as English football was dragged into the gutter with several incidents involving the Rams, Northampton, Wigan and Crystal Palace
ENGLISH football was dragged back into the gutter after more players were racially abused yesterday.
A Brentford season-ticket holder was arrested following claims Derby’s Duane Holmes was subjected to monkey chants.
Wigan’s Nathan Byrne was branded a “black filthy b******” and “slave c***” on Twitter.
And Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha was also labelled “a diving monkey”. The winger won a penalty in the Eagles’ 1-0 win over Newcastle.
Northampton’s Timi Max Elsnik also claimed several team-mates were abused during a pre-match walk outside their Nottingham hotel.
The latest shame came on the day the Premier League launched its No Room For Racism campaign.
But SunSport can reveal neither the FA, Premier League, nor EFL keep official records of alleged incidents.
Derby boss Frank Lampard condemned the incident as subbed Holmes sat on the bench during the Rams’ 3-3 draw at Brentford.
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Lamps declared: “Duane Holmes was abused at close quarters at the side of the dugout when Brentford scored their third goal.
“It has been reported, the man who was accused has been taken by the police.
“Duane’s upset. There’s no place for it in life, not just in football. Brentford staff apologised at the end but it needs to be dealt with.”
A Bees statement said: “A season-ticket holder was arrested. He has been accused of committing a racially-aggravated public order offence, was identified at the time, removed from the ground and arrested.
“We will liaise with the Metropolitan Police, who will now investigate the incident.
“The club utterly condemns discrimination of any kind. We are determined to drive it out of Griffin Park.
“The most severe sanctions will be imposed on any individual convicted.”
Wigan reported the Byrne abuse to Greater Manchester Police as a hate crime which the club called “abhorrent”.
The disgusting tweet — sent by Max Goodison after Byrne was wrongly credited with the Latics’ stoppage-time equaliser at Bristol City — also said: “I hope you and your family die.”
Anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out said: “Another week, another group of players racially abused.
“We won’t stop highlighting this disgraceful behaviour while it remains deeply ingrained within football.”
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Their stand comes days after England and Tottenham star Danny Rose revealed he cannot wait to quit football because of its shameful history in tackling racial abuse.
Kick It Out forward all complaints they receive.
But the FA, Prem and EFL revealed to SunSport they do NOT keep a detailed log as it is not their responsibility.
An FA statement said: "The FA encourages any player who has been subjected to discriminatory abuse to report it immediately to the match referee.
“Once reported, the referee will follow the set procedure of alerting the club’s safety officer and the relevant authorities to ensure the matter is dealt with swiftly.
“The FA investigates all forms of discriminatory abuse at any level of the game, working closely with our partners at Kick It Out."
