Sidebar

19
Fri, Apr
26 New Articles

Typography

Fabien Lewis He has encountered racism on the football pitch before. But Trinidad and Tobago defender Fabien Lewis never expected to be exposed to it in Singapore.

Unfortunately, in an S-League match between Balestier Central and Lewis' Woodlands Wellington last night, it happened again.

Speaking to The New Paper after the match, which Balestier won 2-0, the 30-year old Trinidadian said: "I'm shocked that players in this league would use such words, as the S-League is a very reputable league."

The incident in question took place in the dying minutes of the match, with Balestier leading 2-0.

According to Lewis, he had urged a Balestier player to get up and stop play-acting after one of his tackles.

At this point, Lewis said, another Balestier player, forward Zulkiffli Hassim hurled racist abuse at him.

"He used the words 'Get out of here, you black nigger' after I made the challenge," said Lewis, still clearly outraged.

Immediately after that, players from both sides converged, and though no punches were thrown, referee K. Kalimuthu showed Zulkiffli a straight red card.

According to a teammate of Zulkiffli, who could not be reached for comment last night, the referee told him that the red card was for his racist comment.

Lewis - a new signing for Woodlands - added that a similar incident happened to him when he was playing in the United States a few years ago.

According to the Trinidadian, that offender was banned for the rest of the season.

Said the Rams defender: "I hope that necessary action will be taken by authorities (in this instance too)."

Woodlands' assistant coach Clement Teo said that the club would be lodging a complaint with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) over the incident.

Teo said that he was further incensed by Zulkiffli's actions after the red card.

The forward smiled and clapped at the 1,913 crowd at the Tpa Payoh Stadium as he walked off the pitch.

Said Teo: "He should be ashamed of his actions. He acted as if he did something great."

When The New Paper spoke to Balestier's head coach Darren Stewart, he said that he was unaware of the incident.

Said Stewart: "I had no idea what happened. I thought Zulkiffli was sent off for a scuffle.

"I'll leave it to the authorities to sort it out."

It is understood that the FAS will review the incident once the referee's report is released today.