Shelbourne have reported an incident of alleged homophobic and misogynistic abuse of an opposition player to gardai.
The incident is alleged to have happened during the north Dublin side's Women's FAI Cup clash against Peamount United at Tolka Park on August 6, which Shels won 3-2. But the alleged abuse was later reported to the club, who have vowed to ban the person responsible for life.
In a statement released last night, Shelbourne confirmed the incident to gardai and have implemented additional security measures to ensure there are no repeat instances. The club also offered its apologies to Peamount United for the abuse suffered by their player.
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The statement read: "At our recent home match against Peamount United, an individual was heard to have directed misogynistic abuse at an opposition player, including the use of a homophobic term. The incident was reported and having been made aware of this incident, we immediately contacted Peamount United to offer our apologies to the player.
"We have since added an additional security presence, specifically briefed to identify anyone engaging in discriminatory abuse and with instructions that anyone doing so should be ejected from the ground. We have reported the incident to An Garda Síochána and have been endeavouring to identify the individual from CCTV footage.
"The Club will not tolerate any discriminatory verbal abuse in Tolka Park and any individual that we can identify will receive a lifetime ban from the ground. There is no place for this kind of abuse in football – on or off the pitch and we wish to apologize again to the player.
"Shelbourne FC is an inclusive club and we know that our supporters share our desire to ensure that everybody can enjoy the game without being subject to discriminatory abuse of any kind."
Peamount posted a response on Twitter this morning welcoming the investigation. They wrote: "There is absolutely no place for this abuse as we look to ensure that football is an inclusive game for everyone and we welcome a full investigation into this incident."
A garda spokesman told Dublin Live: "Gardaí are investigating all the circumstances of an alleged hate crime that occurred during a football match at Richmond Road, on the afternoon of Saturday 6th August, 2022. An Garda Síochána definition of a 'Hate Crime' is 'Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to, in whole or in part, be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on actual or perceived age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender'."
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