Chelsea fan receives three-year ban for racist gesture towards Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son

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A Chelsea fan has been handed a three-year ban from football after he made a racist gesture towards Tottenham’s South Korean star Heung-Min Son during their Premier League clash in August. 

According to the report from The Athletic, the fan, Thomas Burchell was identified by the club once his pictures went viral on social media and they reported him to ‘Kick It Out’.

The accused pled guilty when shown the evidence and has now been handed a punishment which prevents him to attend a live football game for three years as well as a £726 fine.

Senior Crown Prosecutor, Kalsoom Shah gave a statement as reported saying (via CPS):

“Football is a passionate sport but racist abuse will never be allowed to mar the game.

“We know people who are responsible for these actions are part of a small minority and we will continue to encourage anyone who sees or experiences this kind of behaviour to report it to the police and help us rid football of racism.”

“Burchell’s offensive gesture means that he can longer see his team play live.”

Son has been subjected to racial abuse several times this season

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Son has been subjected to racial abuse. There have been several incidents before, with the most recent being during a match against West Ham. Such incidents have forced Spurs to call on social media companies to take action against racial abuse on their platforms.

Such incidents show that there is still much work to be done to combat racism in football. The clubs, authorities, and fans need to come together and make a concerted effort to eradicate such behaviour from the sport.

 

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