Man released on bail following alleged racist gesture
A man arrested after an alleged racist gesture was made by a fan at the FA Cup tie between Liverpool and Manchester United has been released on bail.
The 58-year-old man from Barmouth, in Gwynedd, North Wales, was arrested on Saturday evening after the match.
Officers had reviewed TV footage of the Anfield match after images were posted on Twitter of a man making an alleged racist gesture.
Merseyside Police said the arrested man was released on bail on Sunday evening.
Saturday’s game at Anfield ended with Liverpool winning 2-1.
On Sunday night a Merseyside Police spokeswoman said: “A 58-year-old man from North Wales who was arrested on suspicion of a racially-aggravated public order offence yesterday following the Liverpool and Manchester United match has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.”
Saturday’s FA Cup match was the first time the two teams had met since a racist incident between Manchester United’s French defender Patrice Evra and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez during their league encounter last year.
The incident lead to Uruguayan Suarez being banned for eight games by the FA, who found him guilty of making racist slurs against Evra.
Before Saturday’s match, the stadium announcer warned supporters that racist and homophobic behaviour would not be tolerated.
Earlier, police said 17 people had been ejected from the football ground during the match. They said two had been arrested for “low-level incidents”.
However, Merseyside Police said the majority of fans had been well-behaved.
Officers have urged anyone with information about the alleged incident to contact them.
From BBC News