Referee Anthony briefly halted the game at Anfield between defending champions Liverpool and Bournemouth when he was informed that the Ghanaian forward had been racially abused by a fan.
Semenyo was captured in an exchange of words with a Liverpool fan in a wheelchair while he was about to take a throw-in. It is still not clear whether it was during that period that he was abused.
Anthony Taylor informed the club’s managers, Slot and Iraola and captains Van Dijk and Smith, respectively, about the incident
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, who was covering the game, described it as “despicable”.
“That boy has been racially abused and goes over to a referee and complains about it,” he said. “It is despicable. I cannot believe what goes through someone’s mind. It has happened, it will keep on happening, and it is a sorry state”, Neville said.
Jamie Carragher, who was on a punditry duty, added:
“Everyone was not sure what was going on. I mean, the number of campaigns we have, kick racism out and different things all across the world. It is shocking to see an incident like that. He was taking long throws on both sides.
“I see a fan that was presumably close to him at that stage. A shocking incident and rightly reported to the referee”, the former Liverpool defender said.
Both teams, alongside the English FA, are yet to officially comment on Semenyo’s abuse
The opening fixture of the Premier League season lived up to the hype as Liverpool resisted Bournemouth’s threat to record a fantastic 4-2 win.
Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo scored Bournemouth’s two goals, while new boy Ekitike, Gakpo, Chiesa and Salah each scored a goal for Liverpool.
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