Police investigate racial abuse of Swans' Eom claim

Police are investigating a report of racial abuse during Millwall’s Championship game against Swansea City on Tuesday.

The match was paused during the second-half while referee Edward Duckworth had lengthy discussions with both sets of coaches.

An announcement was made on the stadium speakers at The Den confirming there had been alleged chants of racism and that police were working to identify any offenders using CCTV.

Swans head coach Vitor Matos said after the match the alleged chants were aimed at South Korea winger Ji-sung Eom.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Officers swiftly engaged with witnesses to gather statements. No arrests have been made and enquiries remain ongoing.”

Eom was among the Swansea substitutes warming up alongside the pitch when the game was brought to a halt during the second half.

“The referee followed the protocol for these sort of situations, they did the right thing. Millwall also did the right thing to get the protocol moving on,” said Matos.

“We all know there is no space for this. This kind of situation should not happen.

“When they do happen we are here to stand with the player, in this case it is our player.”

The incident marred what was otherwise an evening of celebration for the Swans, as Ronald’s late strike sealed a 1-0 win for the league leaders.

Millwall stated they were aware of an alleged, individual incident of discriminatory abuse towards a Swansea City player and was supporting the police investigation.

“The club operates a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discriminatory abuse,” it added.

“Any individual found to have engaged in such behaviour will face the strongest possible action.”

Millwall manager Alex Neil acknowledged the need to deal with the incident but questioned the length of the stoppage.

“I understand there’s been an incident. It’s not something I’m going to get involved in. That’ll be for the authorities to deal with,” Neil told BBC Radio London.

“But the fact that it stops the game for 15 minutes, I just don’t see the point. It needs to get dealt with, absolutely, but stopping the game doesn’t deal with anything. All it does is kill the momentum.”

Victory kept Swansea two points clear at the top of the Championship, with the Welsh club putting together their best start to a season in a century.

Matos said he was saddened by the abuse aimed at Eom, but added the squad will rally around their team-mate.

“He is a smart kid, he is not happy with the situation but he knows we will stay with him and follow the situation as long as we can,” added Matos.

“Millwall did the right thing by announcing there is no place for this sort of thing.

“I’m happy with how it was handled, but really sad that it happened. Now it is about evaluating the situation and we’ll see what happens.”