Kick It Out criticises Millwall’s Alex Neil over comments on racism-related stoppage

Millwall head coach Alex Neil has been criticised by anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out after saying a stoppage over alleged racist abuse “killed the momentum” during Tuesday’s Championship home defeat to Swansea City. The interruption followed reports of abusive chants aimed at Swansea midfielder Eom Ji-sung and lasted for around seven minutes.

The Championship fixture was suspended for around seven minutes after reports of abusive chants being aimed at Eom Ji-sung. The referee, Edward Duckworth, halted the match in the 65th minute before speaking with both teams’ managers, the fourth official and a safety officer. After the game Neil told BBC Radio London: "I understand, obviously, there’s been an incident. That’s not something I’m going to get involved in, that’ll be for the authorities to deal with. But the fact that it stops the game, I just don’t see the point." He added: "All it does is kill the momentum."

In a statement published on social media, Kick It Out said: "Player welfare should always take precedence over the momentum or flow of a match, and it’s essential that managers and all leaders recognise this and set the tone with their language so that everyone can stand up to discrimination." The group added: "We’re disappointed to hear reports of racist abuse towards Swansea’s Eom Ji-sung during Tuesday’s Championship game at Millwall. Both clubs have condemned the incident, and it’s positive that Millwall and match officials followed the right protocols so that action can be taken to identify any individual responsible."

The statement continued: "Protocols are in place to help match and security officials respond appropriately. That ensures players are protected and key details are captured so that accountability can follow, regardless of how long it takes." Millwall have not responded to the Kick It Out statement.

Swansea won the game 1-0, with Ronald scoring a late winner after the restart. Neil admitted afterwards: "If we score, I probably don’t feel this way." The 45-year-old added that the alleged abuse "has been reported and it’s not acceptable."

Swansea head coach Vítor Matos praised the referee and Millwall’s club staff for their responses to the incident. He said: "The referee followed the protocol for these sort of situations, they did the right thing." "Millwall did the right thing by announcing there is no place for this sort of thing. I’m happy with how it was handled, but really sad that it happened."

“The club operates a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discriminatory abuse. Any individual found to have engaged in such behaviour will face the strongest possible action. The club is working alongside the relevant authorities to establish the facts and is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which the club fully supports.”