Racist Comments Made During Premier League Opening Game
During the first Premier League match of the 2025-2026 season on August 15, Antoine Semenyo, from the team Bournemouth, was a target of racial abuse from one of the spectators at Liverpool’s home stadium, Anfield. About 30 minutes into the game, an incident happened which provoked the referee, Anthony Taylor, to temporarily stop the match. After the game, Antoine, yet again, was the victim of online racial abuse.
Later on, a 47-year-old man was arrested because it was believed he was the one making racist comments. The man has been released on bail and he has been banned from attending football matches in the UK.
Antoine Semenyo thanked his Bournemouth teammates, the Liverpool players and fans, and the Premier League officials, stating that their support demonstrated “football at its best.” He believes that the punishment for these actions is not beneficial enough. He is advocating for bans from the stadiums and even potential jail time for people that are behaving in a racist manner. Some of the punishments for behaving inappropriately include content removal or account suspension for social media platforms, employment punishments, and legal and criminal actions based on the severity of the conduct. For him, the incident was painful. He expressed anger after the match on online. But that did not stop him, he used that anger to motivate himself through the rest of the game. With that, he scored two goals for his team making the score 4-2, Liverpool to AFC Bournemouth.
Shortly after the match, the online abuse occurred on Instagram while he was checking his phone. Semenyo received racially offensive comments and emojis on his profile. He questioned why someone would behave offensively online. He shared a screenshot of the online abuse with the message, “When will it stop…” on his Instagram. Meta, the firm that owns Instagram, stated they are taking action and investigating the comments. They are removing the messages and disabling the accounts of the person as it violates online behavior guidelines.
Racist behavior will no longer be welcomed at football stadiums throughout the UK. Footballers, fans, and everyone around the world deserves the same respect as everyone around them.
Works Cited
“Antoine Semenyo: Bournemouth Forward Reports Racist Abuse at Liverpool.” BBC Newsround, 18 Aug. 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c0e9ddlvz8wo.
“Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo Reports Racist Abuse at Liverpool.” BBC Sport, 17 Aug. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c0kz2gpgyngo.
“Liverpool’s Arne Slot Condemns Racist Abuse Aimed at Antoine Semenyo.” The Guardian, 16 Aug. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/aug/16/liverpool-antoine-semenyo-racist-abuse-arne-slot-premier-league-opener.
“Racist Abuse Aimed at Semenyo Reported to Police by Fan.” AP News, 17 Aug. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/racism-liverpool-semenyo-fan-police-5f1bf9d922c8640f552905c0808d459e.