Longford 'confident' alleged racist remark did not occur

Longford Town have said that they are 'extremely confident' that an alleged racist remark made towards a Kerry FC player during last Friday’s SSE Airtricity Men's First Division clash between the two teams 'did not occur'.

The 0-0 draw was marred by a post-match altercation involving players from both teams which followed an alleged racist remark made towards one of Kerry's players.

In his post-match interview, Kerry manager Billy Dennehy had said that "there was an unacceptable comment" directed towards one of his players and that the club would "go through all the proper channels" and "protect our player".

In a subsequent statement on Saturday, Kerry said: "Kerry Football Club is aware of an alleged 'racial' remark directed at one of our players during last night's SSE Airtricity Men's First Division game against Longford Town.

"The club continues to work with the FAI and the League of Ireland to kick 'racism' out of the game.

"Kerry FC stands with the player affected and he is receiving all support available to him at this time."

An Garda Síochána said that an investigation was underway into a public order incident, however in a statement this evening, Longford Town say that they have conducted their own investigation and as a result, they are "extremely confident that the alleged incident did not occur."

The statement read: "Longford Town FC is aware of an alleged incident at our recent game against Kerry FC at Mounthawk Park last Friday 8 September.

"After conducting our own investigation and speaking with players and staff, Longford Town FC is extremely confident that the alleged incident did not occur and we are fully behind the individual in question.

"We will work with the relevant authorities to establish the facts of