Racial abuse of Black players spikes early in European soccer season

The Premier League season wasn’t even 30 minutes old when Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused by a spectator.

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The same weekend, a German Cup match was stopped after Schalke midfielder Christopher Antwi-Adjei said he was racially abused at a throw-in.

In Italy, Juventus condemned racist abuse targeting US player Weston McKennie as he warmed down after a league game.

‘And in Spain, police Wednesday arrested a spectator for allegedly making monkey noises and gestures toward Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé during a match August 24.

‘An early-season surge in abuse directed at Black players in competitions across Europe has alarmed anti-discrimination campaigners and highlighted how racism persists in soccer despite multiple initiatives by soccer bodies FIFA and UEFA, national federations and individual clubs to eliminate it

“| think it’s more than double what we had last season at the same time,” said Piara Powar, executive director of the Fare network, an anti-discrimination group which works with the global and European soccer bodies to monitor and advise on incidents at games.