Coventry City fans "sickened" by racist abuse aimed at players
CCFC have condemned the abuse towards its players and say there is no place for racism or discrimination in football, or in the wider society.
Supporters of Coventry City Football Club say they are "sickened" by the racist gestures towards Kasey Palmer in the game against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.
Palmer reported he had been abused by supporters in the Championship match at Hillsborough on Saturday (20 January).
The match was stopped for several minutes while officials spoke to both managers.
Myles Cadden is a presenter for Sky Blue Fans TV, a podcast created by supporters of the club.
He said: "It just sickens you. Going to a game where you’re meant to enjoy it, you’re meant to be happy because we’ve won the match - but you’ve got things likes that going on in the background. It’s just not called for.
"It made the day feel deflated even though we got the three points and won 2-1. My heart goes out to Kasey and the other players, it just isn’t fair.
"If this happens during games, they need to catch the culprit and remove them from the ground. Even if its one of our fans, they need to be punished and get a life-time ban.
"I hope Kasey Palmer is doing okay and can come back on Friday, play even stronger and show them how good he is and rise above it. And hopefully the club can do something before the game to show support. We all need to stand together to stop this from happening in the future.
"The players don’t need to be punished, but if it continues to happen then maybe point deductions are necessary for the teams – maybe the fans will learn that way. Maybe punishing teams is the best route to go."
Coventry midfielder Kasey Palmer and AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan both reported being racially abused during their sides' matches at the weekend.
PFA chair Omar Beckles says players are not convinced the authorities are acting strongly enough on this issue.
Beckles said: "Our members want to see real, consistent and significant consequences for racist abuse, both for the individuals who are responsible and for clubs who fail to get a grip of the issue within their stadiums.
"The reality is that players don't believe this is happening. The responsibility for what happens next lies with the authorities."
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a post on his organisation's X account on Sunday: "As well as the three-step process (match stopped, match re-stopped, match abandoned), we have to implement an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists."
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