Crystal Palace fan arrested after Wolves player racially abused at Selhurst Park

03 September 2023 , 20:17

759     0

Palace won the match at Selhurst Park 3-2

A Crystal Palace fan has been arrested after they allegedly racially abused a Wolves player at Selhurst Park.

Palace won the encounter 3-2 but the victory was marred by the incident which was reported by the visiting player. The Eagles confirmed the individual has been detained and arrested.

A Palace statement read: "During today's match, it was brought to our attention that a Wolverhampton Wanderers player reported that he received racist abuse from an individual situated in the Main Stand.

"The Met Police, The Premier League and matchday officials were informed and our security team immediately removed the individual from the stadium, where he was detained and arrested. He is now subject to a police investigation. We will of course support that investigation and also conduct our own.

"We are incredibly disappointed that this incident took place today, and offer our sincere apologies and support to the Wolves player involved. As a club we have zero tolerance for any form of discrimination or racist abuse. It has no place in football, nor society."

Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush

Wolves also released a statement. It read: "We are very disappointed to report that one of our players was the target of discriminatory abuse by an opposing fan during today’s game with Crystal Palace.

"We reported the incident quickly to Crystal Palace, Premier League match centre and the matchday officials. Crystal Palace security moved swiftly to remove the supporter in question and notified police at Selhurst Park.

"We are offering our full support to the player involved and have provided a formal statement to the Metropolitan Police. Racism or discrimination in any form is completely unacceptable and should never be left unchallenged."

Palace players celebrate after claiming the victory

Palace ended up coming on top after Odsonne Edouard's brace helped them to a 3-2 victory. The Frenchman gave Roy Hodgson's side the lead in south London, before Hwang Hee-chan equalised moments later with a finish that came off his shoulder.

Palace re-took the lead through Eberechi Eze, before Edouard added his second of the match to secure their second win of the Premier League season. Matheus Cunha scored a consolation late on for Wolves, who have just one victory from their opening four matches.

Speaking after the game, Palace boss Hodgson told Sky Sports: "It's been a good afternoon because we won. It wouldn’t have been a good afternoon had we not, because I think a lot of things we didn’t do today, weren’t things we wanted to see from the team.

"I thought Wolves were very good so I think that we were depending on those three very good goals and a much better second-half performance."

Wolves head coach Gary O'Neil said: "There was frustration with the final result, given how the week has been and given how the game was. I felt we had really good control of it for large parts and Palace took advantage of a couple of our errors with the ball and a couple of technical breakdowns.

"But in terms of the control of the game and we arrived in the box about 60 times, so it’s that bit that everyone’s aware of that we need to improve."

Kieran King