Luton Town have confirmed that their striker Carlton Morris reported a racist comment from the crowd during their game at Sheffield United.
The 28-year-old was seen speaking to the officials at one point after coming on as a substitute during the game, and also confirmed the comment in his post-match interview.
Morris had made a major contribution to the game, with two crosses yielding own goals that won Luton the game.
In a statement, Luton said that they confirmed the striker had reported the incident in line with Premier League rules and that the issue will now be investigated by South Yorkshire Police.
The Luton statement read, “We can confirm that Luton Town striker Carlton Morris reported an alleged racist comment from the crowd during this afternoon’s Premier League fixture at Bramall Lane.
“Carlton reported it to the match officials in line with Premier League protocols, and the matter was dealt with immediately by both Sheffield United and South Yorkshire Police, who are currently investigating.
“Luton Town Football Club will offer Carlton and any other player suffering abuse our full support, and would like to reiterate that we take a zero tolerance stance against all forms of discrimination, whether in person or online.
“We would like to thank both Sheffield United officials and the police for their swift actions in dealing with today’s incident.”
In post-match comments to the game’s broadcaster Amazon Prime, Morris said, “The Premier League have been great at telling us protocols and explaining that to us. I heard something from the crowd in the front row unfortunately and I just knew it’s best to get that reported straight away and let them deal with it from there.”
In their own statement, Sheffield United said they are also in dialogue with police and Luton Town over the incident.
They said, “Sheffield United FC is disappointed to learn of an alleged racist incident, late in the game during the Premier League Boxing Day fixture against Luton Town.
“Once the club had been aware of the alleged incident, an investigation was instigated, and we are now in dialogue with South Yorkshire Police and Luton Town FC, and we thank both for their assistance.
“The club would like to again reiterate we take a zero-tolerance approach to racism and stands firmly against all forms of discrimination. There is no place for this behaviour in football, or society as a whole.”
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