Ole Gunnar Solskjaer calls for alleged racist fan to be banned from football for life as Man City investigate

Supporter is being investigated for allegedly making a racist gesture towards Manchester United players Fred and Jesse Lingard during Saturday’s 2-1 win over City

Melissa Reddy
Etihad Stadium
Saturday 07 December 2019 19:29 EST
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United should have beaten Aston Villa

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called for the supporter being investigated for allegedly racially abusing Manchester United players in the 2-1 derby victory at Manchester City to “never be let into a football ground again.”

Video footage during the second half of the encounter at the Etihad showed a male seemingly making monkey noises and gestures towards Fred and Jesse Lingard, who were readying to take a corner in front of the home fans.

The United manager watched the incident and spoke to the pair after the game to ascertain whether they had noticed the abuse, which City are investigating together with Greater Manchester Police.

"Fred and Jesse were taking a corner and I've seen the video and heard from the boys,” Solskjaer said.

“We keep talking about it every bloody week. But he's been caught on camera, he should - in my opinion - never be allowed into a football ground again. It’s unacceptable.

“I’m sure City and the authorities will deal with it. We keep talking about it every week and it won't stop unless it'll have consequences."

When quizzed over whether City should be punished with a partial stadium closure or similar, Solskjaer responded: "Why don't we educate him instead? It's not City's fault, it's his and he should be educated, that's my opinion anyway.

“It's nothing to do with Man City as a football club, no."

The issue, which transpired around the 68th minute of the match, was spotted due to objects being thrown at the United players by City fans.

Greater Manchester Police are working with the club to identify those culprits as well.

Kick It Out, English football’s equality and inclusion organisation, said it had been “inundated with reports of alleged racist abuse from a number of individuals. We will be contacting both clubs to offer our support and hope swift action is taken to identify the offenders.”

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