Semenyo wants jail and life bans as racist abuse punishments
Antoine Semenyo scored twice in Bournemouth's defeat at Liverpool
- Published
Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo says more should be done to tackle racism in football, including possible prison sentences for those convicted of abuse.
Semenyo reported that he was racially abused by a spectator during his side's 4-2 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield on the opening day of the Premier League season.
The match was briefly paused while referee Anthony Taylor explained the allegations to both teams' managers and captains.
Speaking to ITV News,, external the 25-year-old said "there has to be something else" that authorities can do.
Merseyside police arrested a 47-year-old man from Liverpool on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. He appeared in court and is now barred from every football stadium in the UK as part of his bail conditions.
When asked what a maximum punishment should be for anyone convicted of racial abuse, Semenyo said: "It could be jail time, it could be banned from stadiums for a lifetime, it could be anything along the lines of that, but I feel like there has to be something else."
Semenyo scored twice during the second half against Liverpool, after reporting his concerns to the referee.
He said footballers cannot understand why incidents of racism in stadiums have been so widespread, adding that they "want to know why it keeps happening".
The Ghana international also said he was racially abused online immediately after the match at Anfield.
"Someone has felt the need to come online and do that, so that made me angry, to be honest. Why would you want to do that?" he said.
When asked if he thought the publicity around the incident would deter other supporters from making racist remarks, he said: "I hope it does, but if it doesn't then it just shows that what the Premier League is doing is not enough and that more needs to be done. So I hope it does."
A day after Semenyo reported the alleged abuse at Anfield, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told BBC Sport the authorities would keep pushing to banish racism from the game.
Masters said: "If you are found to be using discriminatory language inside a football ground you will be ejected, second you will be banned and third you may face criminal charges.
"No Premier League footballer should ever have to, in their workplace or online, suffer that sort of abuse. It is important that we keep saying that."
