Liverpool U19 clash abandoned after stars walk off pitch and refuse to play

Liverpool’s under-19 side walked off the pitch during their game against Eintracht Frankfurt after one of their players was allegedly subjected to racist abuse. The match, which was part of a youth football tournament in southern Germany, was later abandoned as the Reds refused to continue.

The young Liverpool players were left furious when one of their team-mates was allegedly racially abused by an opponent, according to German outlet Bild. They were said to have responded by leaving the field of play and refusing to come back out of the tunnel in protest.

As a result, the match was abandoned before the final whistle with the scores locked at 1-1 at the time of the alleged incident. However, it was later claimed by Frankfurt sporting director Timmo Hardung that it was a simple misunderstanding and the exchange had been lost in translation.

Hardung said the accused Frankfurt player had actually used the slang term ‘digga’, which has a similar meaning to ‘brother’ or ‘dude’.

He explained: “We have clear values ​​that we live by and constantly demand. Racism has no place here, but we still take such an accusation seriously. After consultation, our player confirmed that he had used the word ‘digga’, which is common in youth slang, in the course of a normal game.

“We have no doubt that this statement is correct. We can rule out racism. It is a linguistic issue and we therefore hope that we have also cleared up the misunderstanding with the players concerned and those responsible at Liverpool.”

It comes just days after Wolves’ pre-season game against Como was marred by a similar incident, which sparked a furious brawl. Daniel Podence was sent off for punching an opponent after Hwang Hee-chan was allegedly subjected to racist abuse.

Wolves promised to submit an official complaint to UEFA but Como played down the incident, claiming their player had made reference to actor Jackie Chan after hearing Wolves players using a nickname for their South Korean forward.

In a statement, Como said: “Our club does not tolerate racism and condemns all forms of it in the strongest possible way. We spoke to the defender in question to understand what was said. He has told us the comment he made, to his co-defender, was ‘ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan’.

“Having spoken to our player at length, we are confident this was in reference to the player’s name and to the constant references of ‘Channy’ made by his own team-mates on the pitch.”