BURNLEY, England (AP) — A player for English second-division team Burnley says he received “disgusting” racial abuse from an opponent during a league game on Saturday.
Tunisia international Hannibal Mejbri was involved in a heated exchange with Preston’s Milutin Osmajic, a Montenegro native, and reacted with visible dismay before reporting the incident to referee Andrew Kitchen.
After the game ended 0-0, Mejbri wrote on X: “I will not be silent about what happened today. I will always call out racism whenever I hear or see it. That is the only way we change as a sport and a society. I am a strong person but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch.”
Preston issued a statement saying Osmajic “strongly refuted the claims of a comment made towards Hannibal Mejbri in a post-match meeting with today’s match officials.”
Burnley manager Scott Parker, whose team has not conceded a goal in 11 league games, said his player was clearly affected by whatever Osmajic said.
“Something inappropriate was said to Hannibal which he reported,” Parker said. “You could clearly see he was very distressed and in that moment we tried to get some context into what exactly had happened because he was very emotional. He explained to me what was said and at that moment we just wanted to work out how he was and where he was in his head space. It will go down to due process now.” ___
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The Associated Press
