Hongan Edmund Arko-Mensah was reportedly the target of racist shouting.
Mohammad Al-Emara had to stop the match when he received a message about racist chanting. Matti Raivio / AOP
Suspected racist behavior interrupted an entertaining football match in Tapiola on Thursday evening.
The match between FC Honga and HJK was about to enter the last 10 minutes of regular time, when the referee Mohammad Al-Emara had to pause the game for a while.
The judges were told that the racist shouting came from the HJK supporter’s stand, which was located right behind the Helsinki team’s bench.
– Honga’s physiotherapist walked from the corner with the injured player past the HJK supporter’s stand. He told the fourth official that there were monkey noises coming from the stands, Al-Emara clarified the events.
– HJK’s bench probably didn’t hear the scream.
On the other side of the stand, the situation seemed a bit confusing, when first the fourth referee went to the HJK bench to talk about it. Soon Al-Emara was summoned.
After a while, Al-Emara ran to the other side of the stand, where the announcer was located. Finally, information about the racist behavior reached the announcer, who gave an emphatic message to the audience.
– HJK did not protest the suspension. It was just a little unclear to whom the announcement should be notified. That’s why it took a bit longer when I had to run to the other side to tell.
According to the information, Hongan was the target of the shouting to Edmund Arko-Mensah. The suspicion of racism in the match will be carried forward.
After the announcement, there were loud boos and sniffles from the HJK supporter’s stand.
Honga’s head coach Vesa Vasara said after the match that he didn’t hear any screams. He hoped the scream had been misheard.
When racist behavior occurs, the referees act according to three points.
– First the information is given to the announcer. If the behavior continues, we leave the booth for 5–10 minutes. For the third time, the match will be stopped completely, Al-Emara said.
Arko-Mensah scored Honga’s 1–1 equalizer in the second half. Honka eventually rose from a losing position to a 3–1 victory.