Disgusting moment fans film themselves laughing as they leave an NRL match after being booted from the stadium for allegedly launching a tirade of racist abuse at an Indigenous player
- Eight men were kicked out of an NRL game by police over alleged racial abuse
- The spectators were escorted from Central Coast Stadium on Friday evening
- They are accused of racially abusing Penrith Panthers winger Brent Naden, 24
- Videos circulating on social media show the group after they were kicked out
- In one video, one of the men filmed himself yelling 'f*** the Panthers'
Eight young men booted from an NRL game after allegedly hurling racial abuse at an Indigenous player have filmed themselves being escorted from the stadium.
The spectators were kicked out of Central Coast Stadium in Gosford during the Panthers and Warriors match on Friday after allegedly taunting Penrith winger Brent Naden from the sideline.
One video shared to social media showed the alleged culprits leave the ground, with one of the men yelling 'f*** the Panthers'.
In a second snippet of footage, three men appear to perform an Indigenous dance. The video is captioned 'that's mi boyz'.
Eight young men booted from an NRL game after allegedly hurling racial abuse at an Indigenous player have filmed themselves being escorted from the stadium. In one snippet of footage, three men appear to perform an Indigenous dance. The video is captioned 'that's mi boyz'
Brent Naden (pictured) thanks the crowd after winning 18-12 on Friday evening in Gosford
Former New Zealand Test hooker Issac Luke uploaded the videos to Twitter and wrote: 'I don't know what was said to the bro Naden but these clowns walked out of the grounds like this.'
'This video takes so much away from our game. Learn to respect other's cultures.'
On Saturday, the NRL continued their investigation into the incident and CEO Andrew Abdo promised long bans if the allegations are proven accurate.
'Things like this don't happen often, but they should never happen,' Mr Abdo said.
One of the men allegedly booted from the ground on Friday filmed himself screaming 'f*** the Panthers'
'When they do happen we have to act decisively and act in a unified and strong way.
'We will take whatever action we deem necessary to make sure that those fans who have proven to acted this way are not able to attend our games going forward.'
Mr Abdo contacted Naden on Friday night, while investigators spoke with the 24-year-old on Saturday.
The alleged verbal abuse left Naden shaken and has prompted an outpouring of support from past and present players.
'I would like to commend the actions of Brent Naden, who in this case was brave in making people aware of what occurred,' Mr Abdo said.
'We are chasing down the names and the whereabouts of the individuals.
'We had fans in the stadium supporting the account of what occurred.'
It's believed the investigation could be complete by early this week, with Naden expected to speak publicly afterwards.
Footage taken by Fox League on Friday showed two police officers confront the group of men sitting in the stands, before walking them up the stairs and out of the venue.
Eight young men were kicked out of the NRL match by police after allegedly racially abusing Indigenous player Brent Naden
Sideline commentator Steve Roach drew attention to the incident after the group were booted from the ground at the end of the the first half.
'Guys, there's been a bit of racial abuse down here on the sideline,' Roach said.
'A couple of fans have been giving it to Brent Naden, they've been escorted out of the ground.'
Commentators Matt Russell and Braith Anasta agreed there should be no time for racial abuse in the NRL.
'Great to hear that they have been quickly dispatched, that might be one of the stories out of this game - why on earth someone would do that. Let's hope they've been identified,' Russell said.
Anasta added: 'That's disgusting, it's crazy, Get them out and don't let them back in ever.'
Brent Naden (right) is pictured with Chris Randall of the Newcastle Knights
Naden scored the opening try for Penrith in Friday evening's clash with the New Zealand Warriors
The alleged culprits are believed to be aged in their early 20s and some of them wore Warriors jerseys for the clash.
Friday marked history for the Panthers as it was the first time in the club's history they have won nine games in a row.
But their 18-12 victory was sadly overshadowed by the alleged racial abuse.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said alleged incident affected the 24-year-old more than he expected it to, Fox Sports reported.
'Brent's OK. He said its not the first time he's heard that in his life, but not in this forum [at a stadium],' he said.
'I think it happened more than once. I don't really know the exact details and there'll need to be some sort of investigation after that our main objective is making sure Brent is all right.
'He's OK, it definitely affected him, he said he was surprised that he was affected by it.'
Warriors CEO Cameron George said his club did not condone racial remarks to anyone playing rugby league or in general.
The spectators were escorted from Central Coast Stadium in Gosford during the Penrith Panthers and New Zealand Warriors match after allegedly taunting Naden from the sideline on Friday
NRL fans took to Twitter to slam the alleged racial abuse and said the group should be banned from attending live games for life
NRL fans took to Twitter to slam the alleged racial abuse and said the group should be banned from attending live games for life.
'Absolutely disgusting. Hope they are banned for life and charged. Chin up Naden. Brilliant footballer,' one person tweeted.
'Let's hope the names of those people who racially abused Brent Naden are passed onto the NRL so that all eight are banned from attending NRL games for the forseeable future,' another wrote.
'Really proud of Brent Naden for standing up for himself and reporting that intolerable bulls***. Racism needs to be called out every time,' a third added.
A fourth said: 'Absolutely disgusting from those 'fans' who were caught racially abusing Naden. Great work identifying and removing them. Here's hoping don't let them off lightly.'
Naden and Josh Mansour celebrate after Dylan Edwards scored a try during Friday's match
No comments: