Patrick Vieira has responded to the alleged abuse his Crystal Palace team received from sections of the Millwall home fans during their FA Cup Third Round match at The Den. The Eagles were loudly booed for taking the knee before kick-off, while Conor Gallagher appeared to be repeatedly targeted with homophobic chants throughout the 90 minutes as Palace won 2-1 in a fierce match in south London.
Patrick Vieira said: “We as a football club are against any kind of discrimination. This is not something we want to see on the field. Taking the knee, this is something we are really proud to take and in every football club there are players making that decision. As a football club what is important is to show that we are against that discrimination.”
Vieira was then asked whether Olise had mentioned being struck by a projectile from the home fans, to which his manager confirmed he had not. A statement from Millwall FC was released after the game.
Patrick Vieira read: “Millwall Football Club has a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of discrimination and will investigate any incident of alleged abuse accordingly. As is club policy, any individual found guilty of discriminatory abuse is issued with an immediate lifetime ban.”
This is not the first time the Eagles have been subjected to discriminatory abuse from rival fans this season.
