A 47-year-old man from Liverpool has been arrested after Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused during Friday night’s Premier League opener at Anfield.
Merseyside Police confirmed the suspect was detained on Saturday on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. He remains in custody for questioning.
The incident occurred in the 29th minute when Semenyo, 25, drew referee Anthony Taylor’s attention to an abusive comment from the crowd, prompting play to be halted.
The referee consulted both managers, Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola, before resuming the game. The fan in question was later ejected from the stadium.
Semenyo, who also received racist abuse on Instagram later that night, shared some of the messages with the caption: “When will it stop?” Meta, the parent company of Instagram, told Sky Sports News it is investigating, removing abusive comments, and disabling offending accounts.
Bournemouth captain Adam Smith described the incident as “unacceptable,” while manager Iraola added: “It’s a big shame, because most of the news will be about this. It shows racism is still a big problem, not just in football.”
Liverpool officials confirmed the individual was identified and handed over to police.
