Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Lucy Thornton

Prince William condemns racial abuse hurled at children playing at junior football club

Prince William has slammed racial abuse and threats aimed at kids ­playing in a junior football club.

The royal, who is president of the FA, said he is deeply concerned and those involved must be held accountable.

Alpha United Juniors first spoke out in November about the abuse.

They said kids as young as seven had been targeted.

And some have even suffered threats of violence.

Prince William has written a letter to the club in Bradford, West Yorks, saying he has contacted the FA about the claims.

He wrote: “Racism and abuse has no place in our society. Abhorrent ­behaviour of this nature must stop now.”

Mohammed Waheed, who founded the award-winning club 10 years ago, told the Mirror that a player was called the n-word only yesterday.

Mr Waheed, 36, wrote to Kensington Palace in January claiming he had contacted the FA on multiple occasions.

He said the Prince then contacted the club last month, adding: “It was nice to hear. Knowing that he’s raised it.

“We’ve had 10 years of this, from the first match we played we saw racism.

“It was my under-14s team. We have had kids that have dropped out because of the abuse.”

Mr Waheed said attacks have risen since Brexit, adding: “You can’t abandon the game because you get fined by the FA..”

He said the club had reported up to 60 cases but has largely stopped now.

Mr Waheed urged the FA to change its procedures, adding: “This stuff affects you for life.”

He said since going public on Sky he has been contacted “by 40 clubs”.

The West Riding FA said: “We require witnesses to engage with our judicial process. Despite our best efforts, the club did not support this process.”

West Riding FA said it is probing cases flagged by the club. But Alpha United Juniors dispute this, arguing it has provided evidence.

The club added parts of the process could compromise players’ anonymity.

The FA said last night: “We strongly condemn all forms of offensive and discriminatory behaviour and we are determined to stamp it out of our game.

“All allegations of this nature are taken extremely seriously and we would urge anybody who has been subject to, or a witness of, incidents to report it to The FA, their local County FA, or Kick It Out.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.