Rangers FC bans fans over racial abuse of Celtic Star Kyogo Furuhashi
By Ryan General
August 24, 2021
Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers F.C. announced on Monday that it has identified the fans who were filmed berating Japanese striker Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic F.C.) with racial insults.
Racist behavior filmed: Over the weekend, a video emerged showing a group of football fans aboard a bus singing racist songs targeting Furuhashi. The fans, seen wearing Rangers shirts, also made offensive slant-eye gestures to mock the 26-year-old Asian player, reported ESPN.
- The men were filmed on a supporters bus as they were reportedly traveling to the Rangers’ Scottish Premiership away game at Ross County.
- The supporters can be heard singing, “Furuhashi ate my dog, ate my dog,” a song that Rangers fans used to sing directed at former Celtic player Shunsuke Nakamura, who is also Japanese.
- When they sang “Let’s all do Kyogo,” a couple of fans were seen doing eye gestures considered offensive to Asians, according to The Herald.
- Celtic immediately released a statement condemning the fans’ actions as “sickening and pathetic.”
- A representative from Rangers said the club “condemns all forms of racism and discrimination. Those who partake in such behavior are not representative of our club or the loyal support who have stood by us through thick and thin.”
Banned indefinitely: On Monday, the Rangers released a statement, revealing that they have concluded their investigation and decided to ban the identified offending individuals from all its games indefinitely.
- “Furthermore, the RSC (Rangers Supporters Club) of which they were members and traveled with to the game, have been banned from receiving tickets for future fixtures,” the statement read.
- Police Scotland, which has been made aware of the incident, said it has coordinated with the Rangers to “make relevant inquiries” over the video, according to Sky Sports.
- Furuhashi, who has scored six goals in seven games since joining Celtic in July, posted a tweet appreciating the support he’s been receiving.
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