UK Police probe racist abuse of Bournemouth's Semenyo from Anfield crowd; Liverpool condemn incident

British Police have launched a hate crime probe into alleged racial abuse of Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo during an opening match of the Premier League season, reported news agency Associated Press.

The incident took place on Friday night at Anfield when Semenyo, who is Black, reported the abuse by a 47-year-old fan to referee Anthony Taylor in the first half with the score at 0-0.

The soccer match was briefly stopped while Taylor spoke to both coaches and team captains.

The fan was later removed from Liverpool's stadium.

Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander, said: “Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form.”

“We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible,” Chatterton also said.

Raising voice against racial abuse, Bournemouth players had consoled 25-year-old Semenyo and after the halftime whistle they read out an anti-discrimination message to the crowd at the Anfield.

Semenyo, who scored both of Bournemouth's goals in the 4-2 loss, later posted further racial abuse that he received online.

“When will it stop, Semenyo, who hails from Ghana, wrote on Instagram.

Semenyo thanks soccer community for support

On Saturday, Semenyo thanked his teammates, Liverpool's players and the soccer community as a whole for the “overwhelming messages of support” he received after the racial abuse incident.

“Last night at Anfield will stay with me forever — not because of one person's words, but because of how the entire football family stood together,” Semenyo posted on his social media accounts.

“The overwhelming messages of support from across the football world remind me why I love this sport. We keep moving forward, together.”

The Premier League also said it will investigate the incident and “offer our full support to the player and both clubs.”

In a statement, Liverpool said it was aware of the allegation and that it condemns “racism and discrimination in all forms.”

“The club is unable to comment further as tonight's alleged incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully,” it added.