Burnley’s Tunisian midfielder Hannibal Mejbri accused Preston forward Milutin Osmajic of making a racist comment towards him during Saturday’s 0-0 draw between the two teams.
Preston have strongly denied the allegations. Hannibal reported the incident to referee Andrew Kitchen during the match, and a detailed referee report is expected to emerge on Monday.
After the match, Hannibal shared a post on Instagram saying,
“I will not be silent about what happened. I will always call out racism whenever I hear or see it. That is the only way we change as a sport and a society. I am a strong person but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch.”
Burnley has expressed full support for the player. Manager Scott Parker spoke to BBC Sport, saying,
“He’s hurt. I think everyone could see that at the time. Hannibal‘s an emotional player and he was visibly very stressed by what was said. I don’t want to get into the real details of what was said, I’m sure it’ll come out in due course. Hannibal‘s reported it and is bitterly gutted, so we’ll see what happens in the coming days.”
Preston, however, has firmly rejected the claims. The two teams will meet again in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, March 1st.
In October, Osmajic was banned for eight matches after biting Owen Beck and was given a £15,000 fine.