Liverpool breaks silence after players walk off in matches over alleged racism

Liverpool has offered clarification over alleged racist incidents that have taken place during an under-18s pre-season tournament. The young Reds have twice walked off the field following words from an opposing player.

In an unusual move, the Liverpool U18s are playing in the Bundesliga Cup, and is the only non-German side taking part. Per Jack Lusby , it fulfilled its final fixture today, despite the tournament having been marred by these walk-offs.

A report from The Athletic says that both incidents involve a dispute over what exactly was said between the players. In the first case, from the game against Hoffenheim, the Bundesliga side's account is that the player in question said "digga", German slang that translates as something like "bro".

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The second issue occurred against Frankfurt, in a match that was ultimately abandoned with the scores at 1-1 following the walk-off. The same Liverpool player was involved, and he is receiving support from Academy staff.

Liverpool has now had its say on the incidents for the first time. " Liverpool FC can confirm that a member of our under-18s team reported he was racially abused by an opponent while playing in the Bundesliga Cup youth tournament at Schwabisch Hall in Germany on Friday," read a club statement, per the BBC .

"The player immediately alerted the match official, his team-mates and our coaching staff. Consequently, LFC’s management team decided to stop the game and leave the pitch together.

"In a further incident, the same player was the target of abuse during a fixture in the tournament today. Again, the player alerted his team-mates and coaching staff and our management team opted to leave the pitch once more."

Liverpool further added that it is proud of the player for reporting the incidents. It says his response showed maturity.

Frankfurt sporting director Timmo Hardung has defended his team's player, having spoken to him about the incident.

"We can rule out racism. It is a linguistic issue," Hardung told Bild . "We therefore hope that we have also cleared up the misunderstanding with the players concerned and those responsible at Liverpool FC."

Liverpool.com says: It's not for us to speculate or cast aspersions. But whatever was actually said, there's no doubt that Liverpool is right to be proud of the response of its player, who did the exact right thing by flagging up the incident. The team then took the right action by walking off.

Hopefully there can be a thorough examination into what really happened, rather than merely talking to the players in question. It goes without saying that racism should have no place in the game, or in society as a whole.