A man has been arrested on suspicion of racially abusing a Bournemouth player during the first Premier League match of the season.

Antoine Semenyo had accused a spectator of making unacceptable remarks during the 29th minute of the game against Liverpool - and a man was later ejected from Anfield.

Merseyside Police has now confirmed that a 47-year-old man from Liverpool is being held on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.

He has been taken into custody to be questioned.

On X, the winger - who scored two goals during the match - said the messages he has received were "overwhelming", and a reminder of why he loves the sport.

Semenyo wrote: "Last night at Anfield will stay with me forever - not because of one person's words, but because of how the entire football family stood together.

"To my Bournemouth teammates who supported me in that moment, to the Liverpool players and fans who showed their true character, to the Premier League officials who handled it professionally - thank you.

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This is absolutely shocking and I am ashamed that it was from one of our fans. Apparently the guy who did it is a season ticket holder. Hopefully he will have his season ticket taken off him.

Hopefully this "fan" is banned for life and given a stiff fine. People like this need to be taught a lesson. That kind of attitude is not welcome. If you've ever been on the receiving end of any kind of abuse, you know how hurtful it is. End it, end all of it.

6 hours ago, SpilledIt said:

Hopefully this "fan" is banned for life and given a stiff fine. People like this need to be taught a lesson. That kind of attitude is not welcome. If you've ever been on the receiving end of any kind of abuse, you know how hurtful it is. End it, end all of it.

Absolutely. I know all clubs have fans that are racist but when it's someone from your club it totally infuriates me.

4 hours ago, Lavender said:

Absolutely. I know all clubs have fans that are racist but when it's someone from your club it totally infuriates me.

100% agreed, I felt the same when I found out fans from Bolton were doing it to a player. It's disgusting, and then when it happened TO a Bolton player, equally disgusting. There's no room for it. Get those people out of the stadiums, out of the environment. They're not welcome.

Banned for life at every stadium and rightly so.

A man arrested after a Bournemouth FC player reported being racially abused during the first Premier League game of the season has been banned from every football stadium in the UK.

Visiting forward Antoine Semenyo reported the incident during the game against Liverpool at Anfield on Friday 15 August, with match referee Anthony Taylor stopping play in the 29th minute. The fan was then ejected from Anfield.

Semenyo spoke with managers Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola before the two captains Virgil van Dijk and Adam Smith were called over to the dugouts.

An anti-discrimination message was read out to the Anfield crowd, and it is understood that police officers went into the referee’s room at half-time.

The following day in a post on X, the 25-year-old Ghanaian international said: “Last night at Anfield will stay with me forever – not because of one person’s words, but because of how the entire football family stood together.”

He thanked his teammates, Liverpool players and fans “who showed their true character”, and the Premier League officials “who handled it professionally”

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1 minute ago, Lavender said:

Banned for life at every stadium and rightly so.

A man arrested after a Bournemouth FC player reported being racially abused during the first Premier League game of the season has been banned from every football stadium in the UK.

Visiting forward Antoine Semenyo reported the incident during the game against Liverpool at Anfield on Friday 15 August, with match referee Anthony Taylor stopping play in the 29th minute. The fan was then ejected from Anfield.

Semenyo spoke with managers Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola before the two captains Virgil van Dijk and Adam Smith were called over to the dugouts.

An anti-discrimination message was read out to the Anfield crowd, and it is understood that police officers went into the referee’s room at half-time.

The following day in a post on X, the 25-year-old Ghanaian international said: “Last night at Anfield will stay with me forever – not because of one person’s words, but because of how the entire football family stood together.”

He thanked his teammates, Liverpool players and fans “who showed their true character”, and the Premier League officials “who handled it professionally”

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Good. People like that deserve nothing less.