Wolves report Walsall to FA over racist abuse meted out to Nigerian keeper Carl Ikeme

Wolves report Walsall to FA over racist abuse meted out to Nigerian keeper Carl Ikeme

Posted by Sylvester on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 0

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ENGLISH League One side Wolverhampton Wanders have lodged a complaint with the Football Association after their Nigerian-born goalkeeper Carl Ikeme received racial abuse from Walsall fans over the weekend.

  Ikeme, 27, who has joint English and Nigerian citizenship has opted to play for the Super Eagles, although he is yet to win a cap. On Saturday, at a league game away to Walsall, he and Cameroonian defender George Elokobi were subjected to racial abuse by a segment of the home fans.

During the game at the Banks Stadium, Ikeme and Elokobi reported the abuse, which allegedly occurred in two separate incidents, to Wolves' management staff. Wolves them promptly wrote to the English Football Association reporting the matter and demanding that action be taken.

A Wolves spokesman said: "The complaint relates to a small number of individuals in the crowd at Saturday's game and will not sour the good relationship that exists between the two clubs. Both Wolves and Walsall are fiercely committed to stamping out all types of discrimination within football and will vigorously investigate all allegations of racist abuse.

'Wolves will always strongly support its players who are the victims of discrimination. Carl Ikeme and George Elokobi both displayed admirable restraint in the face of receiving the abuse on Saturday."

Despite the hiccup, Wolves won the game thanks to goals either side of half-time from Nouha Dicko and Bakary Sako's goal in the 67th minute. This 3-0 win places Wolves at the top of League One, the third tier of English football.

Ikeme, who has long held ambitions of playing for Nigeria, was called up by for Super Eagles coach Berti Vogts in March 2007 for an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Uganda. Since then, he has not featured in an Eagles squad, mainly due to a string of unfortunate injuries but he is hoping to get another chance soon.