Grassroots football chiefs have been urged to do more to stamp out racism after a club’s chairman claimed players as young as 10 were being subjected to vile abuse.
Arif Aziz, chairman of FC Peterborough, which has several British Asian players, said it was ‘rare’ for the club not to have a ‘race-related’ incident during a match.
In one under-11s game, opposition players apparently mimicked planes crashing into buildings, referencing the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while another junior team were described as a ‘pack of dogs’.
Meanwhile, FC Peterborough’s adult players claim they regular suffer taunts such as ‘we will deport you’, ‘you all look the same’ and ‘have you been eating curry, you P*ki?’
Zeeshan Ali (pictured) suffered a broken nose after he was allegedly headbutted by an opposition player on the pitch
One first team player Zeeshan Ali suffered a broken nose after he was allegedly headbutted by an opposition player on the pitch.
Mr Ali said: ‘Having played around the world since the age of 12…this has to be the most unprovoked and shocking incident I’ve been involved in.
‘I’m sure if I was playing in a white team, this sort of behaviour would not have happened.’
Bosses have criticised local football authorities who they claim are not taking action against the racist incidents.
In a Facebook post, FC Peterborough player Zahid Hamid, 22, said the club had reported racist incidents to the FAs, but no-one had been reprimanded.
Arif Aziz, chairman of FC Peterborough, which has several British Asian players, said it was ‘rare’ for the club not to have a ‘race-related’ incident during a match
Describing the abuse on Facebook he said: ‘Opposition players mimicking planes crashing into buildings after the full-time whistle instead of shaking hands whilst parents watch on and laugh.’
He added: ‘I’m sick and tired of seeing this constant barrage of abuse and consistent disregard towards our club’s serious cases of racism and Islamophobia.
‘Playing in the league, we’ve had to develop thick skin hearing slurs of ‘P*ki’, ‘I will deport you’ and ‘shave your beards’ that have become part and parcel of playing.
Describing his headbutt Mr Ali said: ‘I’m sure if I was playing in a white team, this sort of behaviour would not have happened’
‘I’m turning to Facebook today to make you all aware this is happening, hoping that exposing this publicly we can see change.’
Replying to Mr Hamid’s post ex-Peterborough United footballer Gabriel Zakuani said he was ‘absolutely disgusted’.
Mr Aziz added: ‘I’ve been a victim to it before when I used to play, 30 years ago. Naively, I thought we had moved on, not regressed.
‘As a club we are proactively looking at measures to level the playing field, and I’m sure if our games were recorded we could catalogue the incidents, but unfortunately due to lack of funds this is not possible.’
A spokesman for Huntingdonshire FA said it took ‘all forms of discrimination seriously and acts upon any report with the utmost urgency’.
Cambridgeshire FA said the club did not play in any leagues it ran but added it ‘actively encourages any allegations of discriminatory behaviour to be reported to us in order for us to investigate them’.
Peterborough League secretary Wendy Newey said: ‘As a league we are appalled to hear such comments and we take them very seriously, but reports of this nature are passed automatically to the relevant county FA.
‘I would urge all clubs and players to instantly report all incidences of racist abuse.’
A Peterborough & District Junior Alliance spokesperson said: ‘We take all complaints very seriously and we pass them immediately to the FA when appropriate. We are a ‘Respect’ League and take our commitments very seriously.’
MailOnline have contacted Kick It Out for a response.