A Chelsea fan has been given a three-year ban from football after he made a racist gesture towards Tottenham’s South Korean star Heung-Min Son during their Premier League clash in August.
According to The Athletic’s report, the fan, Thomas Burchell, was identified by the club once his images went viral on social media and they reported him to ‘Kick It Out’.
The defendant pleaded guilty when shown the evidence and has now been banned from attending a live football match for three years, as well as a £726 fine.
Lead Crown Prosecutor Kalsoom Shah made a statement reportedly saying (via CPS):
“Football is an exciting sport, but racist abuse will never be allowed to spoil the game.
“We know that the people responsible for these actions are part of a small minority and we will continue to encourage anyone who sees or experiences this type of behavior to report it to the police and help us rid football of racism.”
“Burchell’s offensive gesture means he can no longer watch his team play live.”
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Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Son has been subjected to racial abuse. There have been several incidents before, the most recent being during a game against West Ham. Such incidents have forced the Spurs to call on social media companies to crack down on racial abuse on their platforms.
These types of incidents show that there is still a lot of work to be done to combat racism in football. Clubs, authorities and fans must come together and make a concerted effort to eradicate such behavior from the sport.
