The police are investigating two alleged racist incidents of racism on Saturday involving players from Derby County and Wigan Athletic, while Northampton Town are appealing for information after their players were also alleged racially abused.
Derby’s Duane Holmes was reportedly insulted using racist language after he was substituted in the club’s 3-3 draw with Brentford, an incident manager Frank Lampard overheard and raised to officials at Griffin Park.
A statement from the Metropolitan Police on Saturday evening stated: “Police are investigating an incident where is it is claimed racial abuse was directed at a player during the Brentford v Derby County game at Griffin Park on Saturday, 6 April.
"A man in his 20s was arrested at the ground on suspicion of racially aggravated abuse, and taken to a west London police station where he remains.
"The Met will work with both clubs while enquiries into the incident are ongoing.”
Brentford have since confirmed that a season-ticket holder was ejected from the ground and subsequently arrested.
“Brentford Football Club can confirm that a Season Ticket Holder was arrested following today's game against Derby County," said a club statement.
"The man in question has been accused of committing a racially-aggravated public order offence in the later stages of today's game. He was identified at the time, removed from the ground and subsequently arrested.
"The club utterly condemns discrimination of any kind. It is abhorrent and has no place in society and we are determined to drive it out of Griffin Park.”
Wigan’s Nathan Byrne was also involved on an unsavoury incident on Saturday, when he was the recipient of a racist message on Twitter.
A statement from the club read: “Wigan Athletic Football Club are angered by racist abuse received on the personal Twitter account of one of our players, Nathan Byrne, on Saturday afternoon.
"We have reported the incident to the police and will work with the relevant authorities to assist them with their investigations.
"The club has reported the abuse as hate crime and will work with the relevant authorities to ensure the actions of the person responsible are dealt with appropriately.”
A third reported occasion of racist abuse has also been raised by Northampton on Twitter.
Responding to a tweet in which a member of the public claimed they observed Northampton’s players being racially insulted, the club tweeted: “Appalling that our players were subjected to such behaviour today. If anyone has any information please do contact the club.”
This comes less than two weeks after England’s players were the recipients of monkey chants against Montenegro, while Danny Rose recently stated he was looking forward to his retirement from football due to the recurring racial taunts he has received throughout his career.
