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TAUNTS: David Amoo, left and David Ngog

TWO LIVERPOOL players received racial abuse from FC Rabotnicki fans last night during their UEFA qualifier in Macedonia.

David Ngog and 19-year-old winger David Amoo, faced a racist tirade from fans at yesterday's game and pictures also show Rabotnicki fans making 'monkey taunt' gestures, sparking concerns that racism still has a strong foothold in Eastern European football.

Danny Lynch, who is a spokesperson for football's equality and inclusion campaign, Kick It Out, said countries such as Macedonia may have "deep seated social problems" which has meant that the abolition of racism in football has been "a gradual process".

However, Lynch remains optimistic about Eastern Europe saying: “Organisations have been set up in this part of the world such as Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE ), working with players and fans to stamp out racism”. He felt this laid testament to the fact that although the situation may be bad at the moment; measures were being taken to fight racism.

In 2003, Macedonia raised similar concerns when the national side played against England. Fans were shown burning the English flag and making similar monkey chants to players but Macedonia was only fined £11,000.

In response to this, Lynch went on to say that these measures cannot solve the problem. “In the past, punishments that have been effective have been where UEFA have docked points and banned fans from watching games.”

UEFA have been alerted to this issue and a spokesman for UEFA said: “We are aware of the matter but we are waiting for the reports from the delegate and the referee.

After these reports have been assessed it is possible that a disciplinary case could be opened against the Macedonian side which, if found guilty, could result in severe punishments for the club.

Published: 30 July 2010
Issue: 0

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