Yeovil Town have launched an internal investigation after Aldershot Town players accused “a member of the coaching staff” of discrimination.
Shots’ skipper Lewis Kinsella posted on his Twitter account on Sunday morning saying that the staff member has been “discriminative towards two of our players and one of their own” before his side’s 2-0 win at Huish Park on Good Friday.
He tagged in the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign’s account to his post.
In a statement, Aldershot confirmed the incident had been included in the report of match referee Steven Copeland.
Before the game on Friday a member of @YTFC coaching staff was discriminative towards two of our players and one of there own ! This is disgusting and unacceptable and has no place in our game @kickitout
— Lewis Kinsella (@Lewis_kinsella) April 17, 2022
That post was soon followed by one from Shots’ striker Mo Bettamer, an unused substitute in the match, who added: “After a few days to reflect and initial shock to my system, before the game on Friday a member of the Yeovil Town coaching staff thought it was okay to directly discriminate me and my fellow colleagues.
”To think it is 2022 and this is something we still have to deal with is disappointing but not surprising.”
@kickitout @YTFC @OfficialShots https://t.co/KCV9jO5eXT pic.twitter.com/wvdp75l4Ef
— Mohamed Bettamer (@MoBettz) April 17, 2022
In response, Yeovil Town posted a statement saying: “Yeovil Town are aware of allegations made by Aldershot Town players following Friday’s National League fixture.
“We take accusations of any form of discrimination extremely seriously and the club can confirm it has begun its own internal investigation.
“We will discuss our findings with Aldershot Town over the coming days in order to deal with this situation correctly.”
Later on Sunday, Aldershot confirmed it was aware of the allegations, adding: “Accusations of any form of discrimination will always be received by Aldershot Town with the upmost importance and seriousness.
“We can also confirm the incident has been included in the referee’s report.
“We will not be making any further comment until the FA have concluded their findings.
“Separately to the above, we would also like to place on record that we as a football club are also fully supportive of the personnels involved in the incident too.”
A large number of players, including Yeovil striker Adi Yussuf, have responded to the posts by both Bettamer and Kinsella with likes and messages of support.