Adeyemi fell victim of racial abuse from individuals directed from the stands during Oldham’s FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool at Anfield.
20-year-old Adeyemi was reduced to tears in the 80th minute of Oldham’s 5-1 defeat on Friday when an apparent shout was directed at him from the Kop end. Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard tried to calm the player after he was visibly shaken by the incident.
Referee Neil Swarbrick reported the incident to the FA. Neil Swarbrick recently hit the headlines after sending off QPR’s Joey Barton for head butting Norwich City’s Bradley Johnston, which later caused controversy by comments from QPR’s manager Neil Warnock after the game.
Liverpool Football Club was swift to start investigating the incident alongside Merseyside Police. The club had recently come under fierce criticism over the handling of Luis Suarez’s eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra.
It is believed that Adeyemi told police that he was racially abused twice by a supporter. Witnesses also backed this up.
The football club were said to have worked very closely with Merseyside Police to help establish all the facts surrounding the incident. They also handed the police CCTV coverage and photos of the relevant part of the stadium where the alleged incident took place. Liverpool FC released a statement which said it was “deeply sorry” for what had happened.
Match day stewards gave statements and access was granted to all the footage captured by the cameras filming the match at the time.
Adeyemi attended Norwich School formally King Edward VI’s Grammar School one of the oldest schools in the world, with history tracing back to 1096.
He worked his way through Norwich City’s youth structure, finally signing his professional forms for Norwich City at 17 years old. He declined a University offer from Cambridge University in order to pursue his football career.
Norwich City manager Paul Lambert said he spoke to Adeyemi after the game and said he was “okay”. Adeyemi signed on loan for League ones Oldham Athletic on a five-month deal in August 2011.
Oldham released a statement thanking both the police and Liverpool football club for their efforts in investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
A 20-year-old man from Aintree was soon arrested and has now been charged with racially aggravated behaviour.
It has now been reported that MP’s are to probe racism in football after these recent high profile race rows. The culture, media and sport select committee confirmed it would look into the issue later this year.
