British Youth Soccer Player Charged for Anti-Semitic Taunts
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
player in a British youth soccer league who allegedly heaped a Jewish team with anti-Semitic abuse was charged with “discrimination on the grounds of religion” by the Football Association.
Members of the Manchester Maccabi team said they had endured anti-Jewish taunts and jibes about Palestine in a game with the Curzon Ashton team earlier this month.
With 10 minutes left in the game and his team losing 9-2, coach Anthony Dennison led the players off the field after an argument between two players drew in other players, coaches and spectators.
The Football Association charged the player in the under-16 league with “discrimination on the grounds of religion,” and the Curzon Ashton team with a “failure to ensure players/spectators and/or club officials conducted themselves in an orderly fashion (aggravated by discrimination),” the Jewish Chronicle reported.
A player on the Manchester Maccabi team has been charged with discrimination on the grounds of color or race. Both players face immediate suspension of at least five matches if found guilty.
“We’re used to anti-Semitism, we play with the Star of David on our shirts, we wear the kippah, but in the past we’ve had managers apologize profusely and have a word with their players,” Dennison told the Manchester Evening News at the time of the incident. “On this occasion everyone was clapping and laughing at these racist insults and it was only one or two of their boys who seemed quite embarrassed and apologized to my players.”
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