July 23 – English Premier League champions Manchester City took their players off the pitch during an Elite Development Squad U21 fixture against Croatian side HNK Rijeka because of an alleged incident of racism against one of them.
The game was subsequently abandoned after midfielder Seko Fofana, sent off after an off-the-ball clash, was allegedly verbally abused by one of the Croatian team.
“Following an alleged incident in the latter stages of the first half of the game, being played in Novigrad, Croatia, a decision was taken by the management staff to withdraw the City team from the field of play and cancel the game,” City said in a statement on their website.
“Club representatives in Croatia and in Manchester are liaising with officials, the match organisers and the Croatian Football Association to pursue this matter further.”
The City team is coached by former French international Patrick Vieira who has long been an outspoken critic of racism.
A counter statement from Rijeka gave a very different version of events.
“Manchester City coach Patrick Vieira entered the field, something was discussed with the referee, and then to the amazement of a well-filled stadium he took his team off the pitch,” the club said. “What are the reasons? They are known only to him.”
The protest was reminiscent of the high-profile walkoff by AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng during a friendly at Italian lower-league club Pro Patria in January 2013 and was the fourth episode involving City in two years.
The difference this time is that it appears to have been an opposition player who was allegedly guilty of abuse rather than sections of the crowd.
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