Premier League star Tony Mowbray has urged for harsher sanctions after Juninho Bacuna of Birmingham City claimed he suffered racial abuse at West Brom.
The midfielder brought up an altercation during injury time of the 1-0 loss at The Hawthorns with fourth official Tom Nield.
After speaking with referee David Webb, Bacuna was spotted gesturing at the fans during full time. An inquiry has been opened by West Midlands Police.
After Andreas Weimann’s late winner for Albion, Mowbray commented, “You have to have a deterrent for the guy who’s had a few drinks, he comes to the match and there’s an opportunity in his mind to shout some racial abuse.” He needs to ask himself, “Wait a minute.”
“You make choices, and there must be consequences. He yells this, knowing that he might never watch football in this stadium again.”
“Severe repercussions are required. You can’t simply apologize, buddy. What motivates someone to make such statements?
“Bacca told me what he said; it’s not very nice, but I don’t think it’s relevant to share those things.”
“That person ought to bear the repercussions of his deeds. He is correct to draw the officials’ attention to it.
Whose responsibility is it to make the proper choices, and what are the repercussions? They must be really severe in order to make individuals reconsider assaulting others based on their race.
Since September 2022, there have allegedly been three instances of racist abuse directed against Bacuna.
After getting sent off for Curacao against Indonesia, he was then harassed online. In October, he was insulted at St Andrew’s against Huddersfield.
After an instantly forgettable first half in which the sides neutralized one another, the match on Saturday improved. Eight minutes after the restart, Alex Mowatt’s header went wide.
With 20 minutes remaining, Birmingham nearly scored a goal when Kevin Long’s flick from Andre Dozzell’s corner struck the inside of the post. Brandon Thomas-Asante also missed.
The Baggies took advantage of the break, and with five minutes remaining, Weimann’s excellent close-range strike from Darnell Furlong’s cross sealed the victory for the home team.
However, the game was ruined by another incident, which happened after the crowd unrest during the FA Cup loss to rivals Wolves last week.
“I am not able to speculate about what transpired there, but I do know that our club will always analyze any incident that occurs,” Baggies manager Carlos Corberan stated. Corberan became a father for the second time on Friday with the birth of his son Dario.
“Because I know that my players and my club are always against these kinds of situations if there is any antagonistic behavior.”
“My club takes great initiative to make circumstances more equitable for everyone.
“I know that my players always take the knee in the event of a racism-related incident, and we are among the teams who have been taking greater steps to prevent tense situations.
“I’m confident that the club will conduct a thorough investigation if there has been any harm to individuals.”
“We’re investigating after a Birmingham City player was racially abused during today’s game at The Hawthorns,” Sandwell Police wrote on social media.In order to find the offender and provide the player with assistance, we’ll be reviewing the CCTV and collaborating with both teams. “We do not tolerate racist abuse.”