Shrewsbury keeper Marko Marosi claims racial abuse from crowd in Charlton defeat

Steve Cotterill was angry after Shrewsbury goalkeeper Marko Marosi claimed to have been racially abused by a supporter during their 2-0 defeat at Charlton.

The Slovakian reacted to a comment from the crowd before his side conceded a second goal from a free-kick.

A hold-up of over five minutes also saw official Sam Purkiss talk to ground security at The Valley.

Cotterill did not want to dwell further on the incident, but he could not hide his contempt.

He said: “Our goalkeeper had something shouted at him. I’m not prepared to repeat it, if I did it would be very offensive.

“It’s certainly not timely in this moment, with what’s going on in the world.

“And also, to get his nationality right would be handy.

“He’s OK, it’s not a nice thing that happened today, I don’t know if it’s the first time it’s happened to him in his career.

“I don’t think Marko will press charges. It’s best to let it go, otherwise he’ll be targeted – I think it was more about getting the person out of the ground for what he said to him.”

Charlton confirmed an individual had been arrested and was in custody. They said they were supporting the police with their investigations.

Charlton added in a statement: “The club has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination. We have a long history of promoting equality and tackling discrimination. Discrimination has no place at this club or in football.”

Shrewsbury said they were “disgusted” by the “alleged vile racist abuse”.

They said in a statement: “We hope the individual learns that this abhorrent verbal abuse will not be tolerated anywhere in football or in any walk of life.

“Shrewsbury Town stands together against discrimination and we stand with Marko. We will provide Marko with any support