Britain’s anti-discrimination group Kick It Out said that it is investigating online racial abuse against Singaporean referee Sukhbir Singh who took charge of the International Champions Cup (ICC) match between Chelsea and Inter Milan last Saturday (Jul 29) at the Singapore Sports Hub.
In an emailed reply on Monday (Aug 1), Kick It Out told Channel NewsAsia that it has since “been made aware by members of the public concerned by the comments directed” at the referee and that the matter is being investigated by its “reporting officer who is liaising with relevant authorities”.
Singaporean match official Sukhbir Singh was the man in the middle for the ICC fixture, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the Italian side.
He was criticised by some netizens for awarding Inter Milan a controversial penalty at the end of the first half, following a challenge by Cesar Azpilicueta on Inter striker Stefan Jovetic.
In the second half, Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi saw a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside, as confirmed by video match replays.
Some netizens took to Twitter to criticise the 33-year-old FIFA international referee’s performance and commented on his ethnicity.
As the incident is under investigation, Kick It Out added that it could not comment on any potential consequences or repercussions for any parties involved.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/
