Police investigate Campbell homophobic abuse

By Rachel Charman • October 1, 2008 - 18:38

Mr Campbell, an ex-England defender, was subject to abusive taunts from the crowd

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Police are to investigate alleged homophobic and racial abuse towards Portsmouth football captain Sol Campbell.

Mr Campbell, an ex-England defender, was subject to abusive taunts from the crowd during a Premiership game against Tottenham Hotspurs on Sunday, it is claimed.

Tottenham fans reportedly dislike Mr Campbell due to his transfer from Tottenham to rival team Arsenal in 2001.

Hampshire Constabulary said that the scale of the abuse meant that arrests could not be made, but a spokeswoman said today that the incident will be fully investigated.

"Clubs employ us to keep situations like this to a minimum and with the help of stewards on their staff we can normally warn people they are committing a public order offence," she continued.

"That often solves the problem but on this occasion it was just too much.

"I cannot say whether the chanting was obscene, homophobic or racist, not having been there, but the FA officer we contacted said he understood from his background experience what it was."

The Football Association (FA) said it would "take action where necessary."

Harry Redknapp, Portsmouth manager, told BBC News:

"Nobody likes being called filthy names and hearing other filthy abuse. It's not right. What has that got to do with coming to a game?"

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