Haringey Borough walk off after goalkeeper ‘racially abused’ by Yeovil Town fans during FA Cup qualifier

Haringey Borough players walked off the pitch during their FA Cup qualifier against Yeovil Town after allegations of racial abuse from visiting supporters.

Haringey’s goalkeeper, Douglas Pajetat, was reportedly subjected to abuse from a travelling contingent of Yeovil fans, with further accusations of spitting and bottle-throwing aimed at the Cameroonian.

Yeovil’s captain attempted to speak with the supporters, as well as the referee, before the home team took the decision to leave the pitch. Pajetat’s teammate, Coby Rowe, was visibly enraged and had to be restrained by security.

Stewards then attempted to escort a number of supporters out of the stadium, but they refused to leave as the game was delayed for 10 minutes as the players consulted with officials in the dressing room.

After the match, Harringey tweeted: “Sorry for the late update but wanted to make sure we gave correct information. Game has been abandoned following racial abuse. Horrendous afternoon.

“It must be said that 99.9% of @YTFC fans are also disgusted by what’s happened as much as we are. One club, one community.”

The incident comes just days after England’s Euro 2020 qualifier was twice halted due to racist abuse from Bulgarian supporters.

After the match, FA chairman Greg Clarke highlighted that England still has its own issues to address regarding racism in the sport.

“I think at UEFA we need to really address that, but to be perfectly frank we also still need to address racism in England.

“We still have it, we have it throughout the pyramid, we see examples of it every week from the professional game down to the grassroots game.

“We shouldn’t take the moral high ground, we should join a movement to drive racism out of our game and have zero tolerance for it.”