Aberdeen striker Pape Habib Gueye ‘very upset’ after being racially abused by fans during Europa Conference League tie against PAOK… with Scottish club making formal complaint to UEFA
- Substitute Gueye suffered racist abuse during Thursday’s tie in Greece
- Jamie McGrath said Dons players may have walked off if they had known
- Chris Sutton: ‘How my son nearly died’ – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Aberdeen have made a formal complaint to UEFA after claiming their substitute Pape Habib Gueye was racially abused during their Europa Conference League tie in Greece.
The Dons were eliminated with two games to go despite an excellent performance in Thessaloniki against a PAOK side who had defeated Eintracht Frankfurt at home and hammered Hearts 4-0 in the play-off rounds.
Duk had put the Dons ahead before the hosts hit back to take the lead. But Jamie McGrath executed a brilliant 30-yard free kick to earn a point.
However, the Irish international later revealed unused sub Gueye suffered racist abuse — and if he had known about it, he may have walked off the pitch.
McGrath said: ‘I only learned what happened after the game. I believe it involved Pape and some racism. It has no place in the game.
Aberdeen striker Pape Habib Gueye was racially abused during European tie in Greece
Gueye, an unused substitute on Thursday night, was ‘very upset’ after the incident
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‘I believe that is what happened and Pape was very upset in there. We had to gather around him. Nobody knew on the pitch and it is very disappointing to hear that in this day and age.
‘If we’d known about it, something may have been gained by walking off.’
Aberdeen released a statement after the game and said: ‘During the second half of this evening’s UEFA Conference League match against PAOK, it was brought to our attention that an Aberdeen FC player, Pape Habib Gueye, was the victim of racial abuse from a section of PAOK supporters.
‘Aberdeen FC club staff immediately informed the UEFA venue director and, following the conclusion of the match, met with the UEFA match delegate to officially report the matter.
‘Pape has the unwavering support of his team-mates and all at Aberdeen FC will liaise fully with UEFA during the course of their investigations into this very serious matter.’
The incident overshadowed a fine Dons display which ultimately won’t count for anything after Eintracht won in Finland against HJK Helsinki to put themselves seven points ahead of Barry Robson’s side with only two games left.
Robson said: ‘I’ve been so proud of the players and I’m disappointed for them.
‘The fans gave the boys a standing ovation and that says it all. They gave us everything. This is a team who beat Eintracht Frankfurt here and beat Olympiakos 4-2 last weekend.
‘They are a team who have been invested in to sign some real quality players. We went toe-to-toe with them. We gave them a bloody nose.
‘Everyone who has watched us can see we have gone toe-to-toe with some big clubs, great teams in Europe. You need to have courage and guts to be an Aberdeen player.’
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