FIFA President Gianni Infantino has strongly condemned the racist abuse aimed at Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo during an English Premier League game, an incident that led to a temporary stoppage of the match.
The alleged abuse occurred during the 2025-2026 season opener at Anfield, where Liverpool defeated AFC Bournemouth 4-2 despite Semenyo scoring twice.
"It is absolutely unacceptable to see the racist abuse aimed at AFC Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo which led to a stoppage of their Premier League match against Liverpool FC at Anfield. Football has no place for racism or any form of discrimination," Infantino stated on social media.
He further affirmed FIFA's commitment to addressing the issue, adding, "We will continue to offer our unequivocal support to him…to ensure strong deterrents are in place, actions are taken, to eradicate racism and discrimination from our game."
Suspect arrested, banned from stadium
A man arrested has been arrested banned from every football stadium in the UK on suspicion of racially abusing the Ghanaian star.
The unnamed 47-year-old man from Liverpool has been released on bail, Merseyside Police said on Monday. As part of fan’s bail conditions, he cannot attend any regulated football match in the UK, and is not allowed within a mile of any football stadium.
Police had said they launched a hate crime investigation after ejecting the suspect from Liverpool's stadium for his alleged racial abuse of Semenyo.
Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander, emphasised, "Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form."
The fan was removed from Liverpool's stadium after police confirmed his identity. Chatterton 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."
Semenyo, 25, who scored both of Bournemouth's goals, later shared additional racial abuse he received online, posting on his Instagram account, "When will it stop"
Solidarity
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.
