Millwall head coach Alex Neil has been criticised by the anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out after he complained that a stoppage in play over alleged racist abuse “killed the momentum” in Tuesday’s home defeat to Swansea City.
The Championship fixture was suspended for around seven minutes after reports of abusive chants being aimed at Swansea midfielder Eom Ji-sung. Referee Edward Duckworth halted the match in the 65th minute before speaking with both teams’ managers, the fourth official and a safety officer.
Neil told BBC Radio London after the game that he accepted there had been an incident but did not believe the game should have been stopped. “I understand, obviously, there’s been an incident. That’s not something I’m going to get involved in, that’ll be for the authorities to deal with. But the fact that it stops the game, I just don’t see the point,” he said. The Millwall head coach added: “The referee was wanting to speak to whoever the safety officer is, and when he spoke to him [the game] restarted. That’s partly my frustration. I want to get the game restarted, I want to get the game played. It needs to get dealt with … [but] stopping the game doesn’t deal with anything. All it does is kill the momentum.”
Kick It Out responded with a statement published on social media. “Player welfare should always take precedence over the momentum or flow of a match, and it’s essential that managers and all leaders recognise this and set the tone with their language so that everyone can stand up to discrimination,” the group said. It added that it was disappointed to hear reports of racist abuse towards Eom Ji-sung, said both clubs had condemned the incident, and described it as positive that Millwall and match officials followed the right protocols so action could be taken to identify anyone responsible. The statement also said protocols are in place to help match and security officials respond appropriately, ensuring players are protected and key details captured so accountability can follow, regardless of how long it takes.
Millwall have not responded to the Kick It Out statement. On Tuesday, the club said: “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.” Millwall added that they were working with the relevant authorities to establish the facts and could not comment further because the alleged incident was the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which the club fully supports.
Swansea won the game 1-0, with Ronald scoring a late winner after the restart. Neil admitted afterwards: “If we score, I probably don’t feel this way.” The 45-year-old added that the alleged abuse “has been reported and it’s not acceptable.” Swansea head coach Vítor Matos praised the referee and Millwall’s club staff for their responses. “The referee followed the protocol for these sort of situations, they did the right thing,” Matos said. “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.”