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This was published 3 years ago
Adelaide, Victory condemn racial abuse levelled at Reds striker
By Michael Lynch
Adelaide United have condemned racist abuse meted out to their forward Kusini Yengi on social media after he scored a crucial goal in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Melbourne Victory on Saturday night.
Yengi provided one of the highlights of the match at Marvel Stadium when he slotted home a goal just moments after coming on as a second-half substitute, then leapt over advertising hoardings and ran to strut and celebrate in front of Victory supporters.
Kusini Yengi. Credit: Getty Images
Adelaide’s statement calling on the A-League and police to investigate related to posts on Yengi’s Instagram, where at least two users posted emojis of monkeys or gorillas. Others made abusive comments after taking exception to Yengi’s defiant goal celebration, one calling the 22-year-old striker a “dog” and another “shit”.
Another social media user then called out the abuse by sharing a screenshot of the Instagram comments on Twitter.
“We are appalled by the comments made on Kusini’s Instagram account,” Adelaide CEO Nathan Kosmina said.
“We pride ourselves on inclusivity and diversity, and to have one of our players subjected to racial abuse is immensely upsetting.
“The entire club is behind Kusini and will support him as the matter is investigated further by the league and police.”
Melbourne Victory also condemned the abuse on Sunday night.
“Melbourne Victory Football Club does not condone or tolerate racism in any form. This club has been built on embracing diversity and sees football as a platform to unite fans no matter what background,” it said in a statement.
“To see that Kusini Yengi has been subjected to racist online comments overnight is incredibly disappointing and the club has been working with Adelaide United and the relevant authorities to investigate this matter further.”
Yengi was jeered by Victory supporters during his goal celebration, his teammates also jumping the barrier to congratulate him. There is no suggestion he was racially abused by the crowd.
Victory, once a powerhouse of the A-League, are on the bottom of the ladder and enduring a dreadful season but the club has so far backed coach Grant Brebner.
Victory’s Robbie Kruse takes on Louis D’Arrigo.Credit: Getty Images
Adelaide and Victory are fierce rivals, their match-up called the A-League’s “original rivalry”. The Reds suffered their greatest ever humiliation in the 2007 grand final, when Archie Thompson scored five goals and Victory beat a 10-man Adelaide 6-0.
Adelaide boss Carl Veart said he would “have a word” with his young striker about his celebration.
”He just reminded them that this is a big game for us and especially for our supporters and to make sure that we matched their effort and fight - and I think our boys did that tonight,” he said.
A jubilant Stefan Mauk celebrates after scoring in Adelaide’s win over Melbourne Victory.Credit: Getty Images
Victory’s defeat came seven days after a 6-0 humiliation by Melbourne City.
Victory were simply not good enough, physical enough, sharp enough, quick enough, tactically adept or committed enough to trouble a team as good as the Reds for 90 minutes.
Brebner expressed his anger after the game. “I sat here last week, humiliated. Tonight I sit here really, really angry at the way we gifted goals to the opposition tonight because we had some good players performance-wise tonight,” he said.
Jake Brimmer gave Victory the lead and something to smile about but it was not to be.Credit: Getty Images
“I’ve come in here and I’ve always protected and stood by - but when you defend like that, we’re in trouble.”
Adelaide’s goals, he said, were “down to individual mistakes and poor decisions, not intensity because we had the numbers back in the box”.