Cork City fined for racist incident

Cork City have today confirmed that they have been fined following “an incident of racist behaviour” in their recent league defeat to Bray Wanderers in Turner’s Cross.

In a statement released via their official website, the Leeside club stated that they have apologised to Bray Wanderers, and re-affirmed their zero-tolerance approach to racist behaviour. The statement went on to say that while efforts to identify the perpetrator have proved unsuccessful, they appealed to all supporters to assist in identifying the culprits.

After the game midfielder Gary Dempsey took to Twitter to condemn the act.

Cork fans racially abusing our young centre forward. Bad bad form. It's only a game of ball. Shocking stuff.

— Gary Dempsey (@Dempz8) May 17, 2013

The former Waterford United player acknowledged that it was probably “only one or two idiots” but that it didn’t matter whether it was one or one hundred people and was unacceptable.

Cork City also stated that once the perpetrator was identified, “their identity will be forwarded to all relevant authorities and the individual will face an indefinite ban from attending fixtures”.

Statement in full:

“Cork City Football Club has confirmed that the club has been fined following an incident of racist behaviour by an individual at Turner’s Cross.

“This follows an incident at last week’s home fixture against Bray Wanderers, where one individual within the crowd shouted a racist comment at Bray Wanderers player Ismahil Akinade.

“As is made clear by the ground regulations, Cork City FC has a zero-tolerance approach to racist behaviour. To date efforts to identify the perpetrator have been unsuccessful and the club appeals to all supporters to assist in identifying the person responsible, who was standing in the area between the Donie Forde Stand and the Curragh Road stand.

“Should the perpetrator be identified, their identity will be forwarded to all relevant authorities and the individual will face an indefinite ban from attending fixtures.

“The club has contacted Bray Wanderers to express our sincere apologies to the club and their player for this deplorable behaviour. We have also assured them that we are making every effort to identify the person responsible.

“Cork City FC wishes to clearly state that the club welcomes all supporters to Turner’s Cross and condemns any form of bigotry and discrimination. The club will not tolerate any behaviour of this nature at Turner’s Cross and anyone found to be engaging in such behaviour will face ejection from the ground and will be reported to the Gardaí.”