The Metropolitan Police are investigating a report of racist chanting aimed at Swansea City winger Eom Ji-sung during Tuesday night’s 1-0 win at Millwall.
Referee Edward Duckworth stopped the game in the 65th minute and went to both benches, and an announcement at the Den told the crowd there had been a report of racist chanting and that police were using CCTV to identify those responsible. Eom was warming up alongside the pitch with the other substitutes at the time.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Officers swiftly engaged with witnesses to gather statements. No arrests have been made and enquiries remain ongoing.”
Matos: ‘We are here to stand with the player’
Vitor Matos said after the game that the chants had been aimed at Eom, and backed the way the referee handled it. “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,” he said.
“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.”
Matos said Eom was being supported by his team-mates. “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.”
“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.”
Swansea City said in a statement: “We stand with Ji-Sung, and he has our unstinting love and support.” The club thanked the match officials, Millwall and the police for the way the incident was handled.
Millwall promise ‘the strongest possible action’
Millwall said the club was aware of “an alleged, individual incident of discriminatory abuse towards a Swansea City player” during the second half.
“The club operates a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discriminatory abuse. Any individual found to have engaged in such behaviour will face the strongest possible action,” the statement said.
The club said it was working with the authorities to establish the facts and could not comment further while the police investigation, which it “fully supports”, continues.
Neil questions the length of the stoppage
Millwall manager Alex Neil said the incident was a matter for the authorities, but questioned how long the game was held up. “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,” he 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.”
A night that should have been about the win
The incident overshadowed a result that kept the Swans two points clear at the top of the Championship, after Ronald came off the bench to score a 90th-minute winner against the club he nearly joined. Matos called it “a really mature performance”.
Eom, 24, returned to the squad this month after scoring the winner for South Korea against Japan in the Asian Games final, a result that also earned him exemption from military service.
The Swans are back at home on Saturday, when West Ham come to the Swansea.com Stadium in the Championship.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
SWANS: Ronald punishes the club he nearly joined as late winner keeps Swansea top at Millwall
Our match report from the Den.
SWANS: ‘A wonderful kid who just wants to play football’: Matos on Ronald’s winner and Seelt’s first start
Matos on the football.
SWANS: Eom scores the winner as South Korea beat Japan to Asian Games gold
Eom’s gold medal this month.
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