|
East Kilbride manager Mick Kennedy has called for a police investigation into allegations of racist abuse against midfielder Joao Balde following his side's penalty shootout win over Airdrie in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
The Lowland League champions sent their defending champions out of the competition on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the Albert Bartlett Stadium.
The victory was marred by allegations that a fan approached the stand and called East Kilbride's Portuguese midfielder, Joao Balde, a “black son of a bitch”.
Insult was added to the injury when furious visiting striker Cammy Elliott was shown a yellow card for protesting against an attacker who was on the run while being chased by a steward.
In a statement from the club, East Kilbride called on Championship side Airdrie to deal with the matter “appropriately and thoroughly”, saying the Diamonds had “launched an investigation into this matter”.
Calling on authorities to look into the latest allegations of racist abuse aimed at tarnishing the Diamonds, Kennedy said: “After the final whistle, our fans were at the other end of the stadium and players and staff came down to celebrate with them.
Airdrie is understood to have launched an investigation into alleged racial abuse
East Kilbride manager Mick Kennedy has called on the authorities to tackle racism
Born in Lisbon, Balde played for a number of clubs in Scotland's lower leagues
“We assume that an Airdrie supporter came to the front of the stand and started shouting obscenities. In this context, he called Joao Balde a “black bitch”.
Several of our players reacted and then he turned and walked to the grandstand steps to leave. One of the stewards said he could handle it and ran after him.
Joao was shocked and disappointed. I think his teammates took it worse than Joao himself. Cammy Elliott was actually shown a yellow card because of his reaction to what happened.
I think football has done a hell of a lot of work over the years trying to deal with this problem and anyone who sees this behavior should be dealt with severely.
“In my opinion, the police should be called to deal with this. After we scored the winning penalty, another fan ran onto the pitch and tried to attack John Robertson. The steward had to drag him away and it all got a bit messy in the end.
After we scored the winning penalty, another fan ran onto the pitch and tried to attack John Robertson. The steward had to drag him away and it all got a bit messy in the end.
The steward had to drag him away and it all got a bit messy in the end.
In November 2022, former Airdrie player Jose Quitongo lost a racial discrimination case against the Lanarkshire club.
Quitongo claimed he was racially abused by an Airdrie fan during a match against Queen's Park in September 2021.
The club carried out an investigation, but it was subsequently closed due to “insufficient evidence”.
The defender said the club had failed to conduct an adequate investigation and concluded it had been the victim of racial discrimination.
At an employment tribunal, Airdrieonians denied the allegations and disputed further claims that an element of their support had a history of racism.
Earlier this month, an Airdrie fan who gave a Nazi salute during a match against Partick Thistle was banned from football matches for four years.
