Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has condemned the alleged abuse suffered by star winger Antoine Semenyo at Anfield on Friday evening.
It was just 30 minutes into the new Premier League season when referee Anthony Taylor was forced to halt the game as Semenyo reported abuse he had suffered.
Merseyside Police confirmed a 47-year-old supporter was removed from the stadium as a result of the allegations.
**ARE YOU READING THIS ON OUR APP? DOWNLOAD NOW FOR THE BEST GB NEWS EXPERIENCE**
The Ghanaian winger, who scored 11 Premier League goals last year and landed a bumper new contract at the Cherries this summer, bagged twice as Iraola’s side mounted a sensational comeback from two goals down.
Andoni Iraola condemned the alleged incident in his pre-match press conference
|YouTube
This was short-lived, though, with Federico Chiesa and Mo Salah netting late on to secure their first three points of the season.
**SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY GB NEWS SPORTS NEWSLETTER HERE**
After the game, the Bournemouth boss condemned the alleged abuse, describing it as a “big shame”.
“I didn’t notice live because a lot of people [were] shouting,” he said to the media in his post-match press conference. “But straight away, Antoine and the ref both explained the situation to both managers.
JUST IN: Merseyside Police open investigation after alleged racial abuse as Semenyo issues online plea
The Bournemouth boss said Antoine Semenyo remained 'calm' and 'composed' during the ordeal
|REUTERS
“To be fair, I think from the Liverpool side they have identified this person. It is a shame that in the first game of the Premier League, a very good game of football between two teams that played a very good game, we have to start talking about things that were probably considered from the past.
“Obviously, they are not from the past, but we have to continue reinforcing the messages, and it’s a big shame because in the end, most of the news will be about this thing, because obviously it is still something that is still a big problem - overall, not just in football.
“We should be talking about what a good game it has been, two teams playing well in the first game of the season, but probably we will be talking about other things.”
**SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY GB NEWS SPORTS NEWSLETTER HERE**
The 43-year-old, who has been a sensation at the Vitality since his arrival in 2023 and guided the club to their highest-ever Premier League points total last campaign, continued by describing Semenyo as “calm” during the ordeal.
“In the heat of the moment, Antoine understood the situation, he was calm, he continued playing,” Iraola added. “For sure his head had been working in the next minutes, we asked him and he said he was fine to continue, composed.
“It was true that at the end of the game he was still… But the head always goes through these things and he was asking why it is still happening today. It’s a really big shame.”
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
The winger put the incident behind him to bag two brilliant goals as Bournemouth drew level
|REUTERS
The alleged incident marred not only a great game of football and the Reds’ first three points of the campaign, but the first competitive fixture at Anfield since the tragic death of Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and brother Andre Silva.
Both teams wore black armbands and shared a minute of silence before kick-off, after a spine-tingling rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone bellowing through the iconic stadium.
Mo Salah appeared emotional in front of the Kop, who sang Jota’s name .After the match, Liverpool boss Arne Slot joined Iraola in condemning the alleged abuse.
"The club made a clear statement,” the Dutch boss said. “We don't want this in football, we don't want this happening in stadiums, especially not at Anfield.
"We should talk about this for a long time because we do not want this at Anfield. It takes the shine off [the game] a bit because our fans were amazing, especially with the tributes to Diogo [Jota].”