An FA investigation is underway after allegations of racism marred an U12 football match in Essex.
Essex County FA Investigating Claims of Racism in U12 Match Between Baddow Spartak and Levels FC
Insults of ‘B***k M****y’ and ‘Black Lives Don’t Matter’ Allegedly Made Towards Players of Levels FC
Echo Junior League side Levels FC have claimed that two of their players were racially abused against Baddow Spartak on 18 October.
It’s alleged that two members of the Baddow Spartak team racially abused black players of Levels FC – the first shouting “black lives don’t matter”, and the second calling a Levels FC player a “b***k m****y”.
Levels FC owner Terry Bobie-Agyekum was at the match. He recounted his version of events to Last Word On Football: “During the game, one of the Baddow Spartak players said to two of our black players ‘black lives don’t matter’”.
“We stopped the game – the Spartak manager said he’d take the player off, but then left him on. He said he’d speak to the player after the game”.
“The ball then went out of play – our player was a bit cheeky and delayed it. He was then called a b***k m****y”.
“He started crying and our players started running across to us [the coaches] – we told the ref ‘that’s it, we’re not having that’”.
The second incident occurred just before the final whistle – with the game finishing 3-2 to Levels FC, despite having been 1-0 down.
Mr Bobie-Agyekum also stated that the player who gave the second piece of abuse was reprimanded in front of his teammates by one of his parents.
He then made the allegations on Twitter following the game.
My @LevelsFc U12s played a game today vs Baddow Spartak. One of my players are called a “black monkey” left in tears another 1 of their players shouts “Black lives don’t matter” but did not get substituted. I was waiting for this day! Well done to my players for not reacting!
— TBOBZ (@TBOBSS) October 18, 2020
Last Word On Football approached Baddow Spartak for comment – they said they will not be providing a statement at this time.
League’s General Secretary Threatens to Stop Working with Levels FC Unless Tweet Making Allegations is Removed
The incident has been reported to the Essex County Football Association.
When asked if he had confidence in the incident being dealt with by the FA, Bobie-Agyekum said: “No chance. We had a similar problem last year… you report it, but you never hear anything back from it”.
Echo Junior Football League – in which Levels FC and Baddow Spartak both play – responded on Twitter to Bobie-Agyekum’s tweet which made the allegations.
They stated: “Trial by social media is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Please remove this tweet immediately and report in a proper way. Of course racism should not be tolerated, but as a league, we know there are always two sides to every story, which is why it must be investigated properly.”
In an email sent out to all member clubs, the league also warned that the league “will not work with said club [Levels FC] moving forward”, if Bobie-Agyekum’s tweet is not deleted.
In a separate statement given to Last Word On Football, the league said: “Information relating to this match has been passed on to the Governance Team at the Essex County FA, who initiated an immediate investigation in-line with FA procedures.
“Therefore, as this is an active case, our league is unable to comment.”
Anti-Racism Figures Unimpressed With League’s Response to U12 Match Racism Allegations
Anti-racism campaigners have criticised the league’s Twitter response. Kick It Out’s head of development, Troy Townsend, said it “belittled and ignored” Levels FC’s allegations.
Here we go again👇🏽The voice of those victimised often belittled and ignored 😡 https://t.co/cEyPzSZCY9
— Ͳɾօվ Ͳօաղʂҽղժ (@Towno10) October 18, 2020
Other social media users have also expressed concern at the league’s handling of the situation.
What a complete shambles of a reply echo league
You genuinely believe there is two sides to every story regarding racism
It’s you who should be removing your tweet as your response seems to be unsupportive and showing ignorance this matter
— Steve Gleed (@GleedSteve) October 19, 2020
The Essex County FA provided this statement regarding its investigation: “Any form of discrimination is totally unacceptable in football.
“Our Governance Team are aware of allegations of discriminatory behaviour at a match between Levels and Baddow Spartak in Barking on Sunday 18th October, and are in contact with all the parties involved to gather as much information and observations as possible.
“A full investigation is underway as part of a robust disciplinary process.”
