Footballer speaks out about racist abuse as club charged by FA for walking off pitch
Football player Eboni McCann speaks to ITV News West Country
An amateur football player from Dorset has spoken of his anger and disappointment after he was racially abused at a match.
Gillingham Town midfielder Eboni McCann was targeted by a fan in the crowd during an away match at Bridport on October 9.
The abuse prompted Eboni and his teammates to walk off the pitch, a decision which has been met with widespread support from the footballing community.
But it has also resulted in a misconduct charge by the FA, which the club will contest at a disciplinary hearing.
‘A real sombre moment’
“It was a tight game, it went to extra time and unfortunately, in the second-half of extra time, I was subjected to racist abuse,” he told ITV News.
“It’s uncalled for. There’s no room for it...so we made the decision to walk off the pitch.
“I just said ‘I’m not playing, I don’t have to play’ - I’m not paid, I play football for fun. It’s a hobby of mine. I shouldn’t have to stand there and be subjected to abuse.”
After returning to the dressing room, Eboni said his teammates felt obliged to apologise for what had happened.
“It was a real sombre moment,” he said.
“There was an eeriness in the changing room. Everyone felt the need to apologise to me and I said ‘no one else has to apologise’.
“No one on my team did anything wrong - nobody on the opposition team did anything wrong.
“It was just that one individual who ruined the game.”
What has happened since?
Following the alleged incident, Bridport issued a lifetime ban to a fan at the match.
Adrian Scadding, who is chairman at the club, said such behaviour would not be tolerated.
“On behalf of the club, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the player, everyone connected with Gillingham Town FC, the match officials and any one who attended the game for any hurt or distress caused by one person’s actions,” he said in a statement on October 10.
Dorset Police are investigating and say they have spoken to a man, who is in his 70s, in connection with the incident.
He has been released under investigation.
Gillingham Town, meanwhile, must attend an FA disciplinary hearing after being charged with misconduct for leaving the field of play.
The club has denied the charge and vowed to fight it.
An FA spokesperson said: “The FA stands firmly against all forms of prejudice and we take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously.
“We encourage all participants who believe that they have been the subject of, or witness to, discriminatory abuse to report it through the appropriate channels: The FA, our County FA network or via our partners at Kick It Out, so incidents can be thoroughly investigated.
“We will always take the strongest possible action against those proven to be discriminatory within a football setting and we continue to do our utmost to challenge these behaviours within our game.”
A Kick It Out spokesperson confirmed they were aware of the alleged incident and called the FA’s misconduct charge as “flawed”.
“We know the current FA misconduct process is flawed and we will continue to challenge it,” the spokesperson said.
“Under current guidance, if a team leaves the pitch and causes the abandonment of a game, their club will face a misconduct charge and a potential fine.
“But that does not consider contributory factors such as players receiving racist abuse so reviewing the context of the situation is essential.
“We must also acknowledge the impact racist and discriminatory abuse has on an individual - we need to protect and support them.”