Police have launched a hate crime investigation after ejecting a 47-year-old fan from Liverpool's stadium for his alleged racial abuse of Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo during the opening match of the Premier League season.

The incident occurred on Friday night at Anfield when Semenyo, who is Ghanaian, reported the abuse to referee Anthony Taylor in the first half with the score at 0-0. Play was briefly stopped while Taylor spoke to both coaches and team captains.

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

The fan's identity was confirmed and he was removed from the stadium, police added.

“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 said.

Racist abuse online

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,” the 25-year-old Ghana international wrote on his Instagram account.

Bournemouth players had consoled Semenyo and an anti-discrimination message was read out to the crowd inside Anfield after the halftime whistle.

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 late Friday.