Saturday, August 2, 2025

FA investigating abuse towards Colchester’s George

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The FA is looking into abuse aimed towards Colchester United’s Shamal George during their FA Cup victory at AFC Sudbury on Friday night.

The League Two side issued a statement saying they were made aware of the abuse aimed at the goalkeeper from behind the goal and with the help of Sudbury and BBC footage, hope to identify the supporter or supporters responsible.

It added: “Any abuse whatsoever is totally unacceptable, and it is hoped that anyone who is found to have been abusive to Shamal will be identified and punished to the full letter of the law, and that the full weight of any football sanctions can be imposed.”

Isthmian League side AFC Sudbury also released a statement saying it has reviewed the BBC’s broadcast audio and insist the incident, albeit abusive, did not contain racist language.

It added: “We would like to publicly state that AFC Sudbury condemns abuse of ANY kind and any visitor to the club who uses language or behaviour of this kind will be banned indefinitely from the football club.”

The FA is working with both clubs and local police to investigate the matter.

Goals from Brendan Wiredu, Freddie Sears, Sylvester Jasper and Shawn McCoulsky saw Colchester comfortably through to the second round of the competition.

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