The match between Penrith and South Sydney at BlueBet Stadium on Thursday night was overshadowed by an incident involving Latrell Mitchell and a young fan. Mitchell was allegedly called a racial slur by the fan, who was quickly ejected from the stadium.
Souths coach Jason Demetriou was furious with the incident and vowed to pursue the matter as far as they could take it. The Panthers also said they would investigate the matter. In 2018, Souths great Greg Inglis was also subjected to racial abuse from a fan at Penrith.
Mitchell returned in the second half as Souths clawed back from 16-0 down before tries to Alex Johnston and Isaiah Taas set up a thrilling couple of final minutes. Mitchell was interviewed after the game, but only on the condition he was not asked about the half-time scenes.
Nobody inspires Indigenous kids more than Mitchell, who has also led the way when it comes to calling out racism and injustice. Demetriou is close with Mitchell, but stopped short of saying the constant abuse would force him out of the game early. An hour after the match, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo promised a full investigation.
“Any form of racism or vilification will not be tolerated in our sport,” Abdo said.
“We will not accept this behaviour from anyone. We are working with the stadium and the club to get all the facts. The Integrity Unit will investigate fully. We will stand behind our players and commend them for calling out this behaviour.”
»Latrell Mitchell faces racial abuse investigation«
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