Schalke 04’s German Cup match halted after alleged racial abuse
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The incident at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion is the latest high-profile racism incident since the European football season resumed this month.
PHOTO: SCHALKE 04/FACEBOOK
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BERLIN – A first-round German Cup match between Schalke 04 and hosts Lokomotive Leipzig was halted on Aug 17 after visiting winger Christopher Antwi-Adjei alleged racial abuse from home fans.
The match, which finished 1-0 to Schalke after Bryan Lasme’s extra-time winner, was suspended for almost five minutes after Antwi-Adjei, 31, informed the referee he was racially abused by spectators.
An announcement condemning racist abuse was made in the stadium. After the match resumed, the winger was booed repeatedly by the home fans.
Speaking after the match, Antwi-Adjei said: “I don’t want to name the words that were spoken. I’m not the type of person who goes home and cries, but I find it disappointing you still hear this on the pitch these days.
“I signalled to the linesman that something had happened. It’s the least I could do. I’m a normal person. This is not appropriate.”
“Quite simply, it was racism. I think it has no place on a football field or generally in society,” he added.
“There are always a few people here in the stadium who think they can get away with anything. They think they know better. But yeah, we keep going, we’ve progressed, and I hope such things don’t happen so often in future.”
Antwi-Adjei was born in Germany but has represented Ghana three times at international level.
Said Lokomotive coach Jochen Seitz: “The football festival is tainted by a single shout. That shouldn’t happen.
“Of course, it’s difficult for a club to take action when there are still 12,000 people there. And when a single idiot shouts something like that, it basically ruins the whole thing.”
Schalke coach Miron Muslic pushed back, saying it was “not a single person”.
He added: “We have to fight racism clearly and decisively. Too often it’s downplayed as the actions of a lone individual. I believe the whole stadium sensed what had happened – and yet they whistled.
“That is not a single person. Chris was booed every time he was on the ball afterwards. That’s the absolute lowest of the low.”
A spokesman from Lokomotive said the insults could not be verified.
“We couldn’t verify it,” Carsten Maschulle told Sky during half-time. “We have a member of staff who uses a wheelchair who was exactly or almost where the player was. He didn’t hear anything.
“We asked around a bit, but no one heard anything. The linesman, who is obviously standing nearby during the throw-in, apparently didn’t hear anything either. That’s the current status.”
Lokomotive have previously come under fire for supporter groups with right-wing ideological links.
In 2018, the club sacked two youth coaches for taking a picture of a group of young players performing a Nazi salute.
The Aug 17 incident at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion is the latest high-profile racism incident since the European football season resumed in August.
In the English Premier League opener between Liverpool and Bournemouth on Aug 15, the match was briefly halted after Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused by a fan.
Days earlier, Tottenham Hotspur condemned the online racist abuse aimed at Mathys Tel after he missed a penalty in their European Super Cup loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Aug 13. AFP
