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Liverpool have taken part in the U19 Bundesliga Cup this weekend in Germany, but were twice forced to walk off the pitch in response to alleged racist remarks.
As part of their preparations for the new campaign, Liverpool U18s travelled to Schwabisch Hall in southern Germany to take part in the U19 Bundesliga Cup.
The Reds are the sole non-German side at the tournament, with Hoffenheim, Schalke, Hertha Berlin, St Pauli, Eintracht Frankfurt, Stuttgart and hosts Spf Schwabisch Hall also taking part.
Unfortunately, an opportunity that the club saw as productive for their young players has been soured by alleged racist remarks towards one of their players.
Two separate incidents occurred in group games against Hoffenheim on Friday and then Frankfurt on Saturday, with Liverpool walking off the pitch in both.
According to The Athletic‘s James Pearce, Hoffenheim claimed that their player had used the German slang term ‘digga’, meaning ‘bro’, refuting claims the Liverpool player in question had been called the N-word.
Following consultation with tournament organisers, all clubs involved were warned that further use of the word ‘digga’ would not be tolerated.
But further instances occurred in Saturday’s clash with Frankfurt, and with the Reds walking off they forfeited the tie – which had been poised at 1-1 – for a 3-0 loss.
A club statement reads: “Liverpool can confirm that a member of our under-18s team reported he was racially abused by an opponent while playing in the Bundesliga Cup youth tournament at Schwabisch Hall in Germany on Friday.
“The player immediately alerted the match official, his team-mates, and our coaching staff. Consequently, LFC’s management team decided to stop the game and leave the pitch together.
“In a further incident, the same player was the target of abuse during a fixture in the tournament [on Saturday].
“Again, the player alerted his team-mates and coaching staff and our management team opted to leave the pitch once more.
“We are proud of our player for his prompt actions in reporting the incident and the maturity of his response. He and any of his team-mates affected are being supported by the academy safeguarding team.
“The club calls upon our opponents and the tournament organisers to conduct an urgent and thorough investigation into the incident.”
Liverpool fulfilled their remaining obligations at the tournament as they faced off against Spf Schwabisch Hall on Sunday morning, but have failed to reach the semi-finals after three losses.
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