Swansea City head coach Vitor Matos has said that the lengthy stoppage during his side’s 1-0 win away at Millwall was the result of racist abuse aimed at winger Ji-sung Eom.
Eom, a 24-year-old South Korea winger, was among the Swansea substitutes and had been warming up on the side of the pitch when the Championship game was brought to a halt. Referee Edward Duckworth held lengthy discussions with both sets of coaches, during which the match was paused for around seven minutes. Following the stoppage, an announcement was made over the speakers at The Den confirming there had been alleged chants of racism and that police were working to identify any offenders using CCTV.
Speaking after the game, Matos confirmed that Eom had been the subject of the abuse. “The situation was with Ji-sung Eom,” he said. “The referee followed the protocol for these sort of situations, they did the right thing. Millwall also did the right thing to get the protocol moving on. We all know there is no space for this, this kind of situation should not happen. When they do happen we are here to stand with the player, in this case it is our player.”
Millwall issued a statement saying they were “aware of an alleged, individual incident of discriminatory abuse towards a Swansea City player during the second half” of the game. The club added: “The club operates a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discriminatory abuse. Any individual found to have engaged in such behaviour will face the strongest possible action. The club is working alongside the relevant authorities to establish the facts and is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which the club fully supports.”
The incident marred what was otherwise an evening of celebration for the Swans, as Ronald’s late strike sealed a 1-0 win for the league leaders. Victory kept Swansea two points clear at the top of the Championship, with the Welsh club putting together their best start to a season in a century. Eom has scored two goals in seven Championship appearances this season.
Matos said he was saddened by the abuse aimed at Eom, but believes the rest of the squad will rally around their team-mate. “He is a smart kid, he is not happy with the situation but he knows we will stay with him and follow the situation as long as we can,” added Matos. “Millwall did the right thing by announcing there is no place for this sort of thing. I’m happy with how it was handled, but really sad that it happened. Now it is about evaluating the situation and we’ll see what happens.”