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Finidi Also Abused - Ipswich Town News

Town midfielder Finidi George has revealed that he was also racially abused during Thursday's UEFA Cup match against FK Sartid in Serbia. Earlier, goalscorer Marcus Bent said he had received taunts during the game.

Former Nigerian international Finidi has pretty much seen it all in his long career and says he has had worse treatment than that he endured throughout the Sartid game: "I could hear them all the time, It was not pleasant at all. It is not the worst I have had but it was still pretty bad.

"They are quite backward in their thinking and something should be done.

"I have had it before in Holland and Spain but never in England, the worst was one game when I played in Spain, it happens and you try to ignore it."

Despite FA observer Bob Hughes including incidents in his report we understand that Town are unlikely to make a formal complaint to UEFA.

The 250 or so Town fans who travelled to Serbia were placed in the top tier of the ground's largest stand and it was difficult to make out the nature of any abuse being directed towards the players.

However, there was an incident in the second half when Marcus Bent tried to retrieve the ball from the crowd below the Town supporters when there did seem to be a strong reaction from the Sartid supporters at the front of the stand.

The fans, some wielding a banner proclaiming the legend 'Extreme' appeared to gesture towards him and crowd crowded closer to where he was standing.

The home fans were closely policed throughout the game, officers standing in the spots more usually taken up by stewards in Britain.

That incident is likely to be the one referred to by Bent when he said: "There was a lot of racist abuse, a lot of spitting when you went near the crowd. But the boys dealt with it, I dealt with it and all that really matters is that we came away with a 1-0 win."

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