The abuse suffered by Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi in Friday night’s 5-1 FA Cup third round defeat to Liverpool at Anfield was an “absolute disgrace”, according to his captain Dean Furman.
Towards the end of the game the 20-year-old, on loan from Norwich, appeared to take offence to some-thing shouted from the Kop.
Despite reassurance from his team-mates, plus Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and forward Dirk Kuyt, the right-back was visibly upset and tearful.
The matter was reported to match officials and subsequently the police, who have confirmed they have launched an investigation into the matter.
Liverpool, who have only just finished dealing with the fall-out from Luis Suarez’s eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, are also looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Furman declined to comment on whether the insult was of a racial nature.
“He was abused and I’ll leave it to Tom and the police to investigate that,” Furman told BBC Radio Manchester.
“What happened should not happen in a game. It has been highlighted over the last few months and it is an absolute disgrace.”
When pressed as to whether the abuse was of a racial nature, Furman added: “It is difficult for me to say anything.
“When one of your boys is down like that we all feel it. Tom, the authorities and police will sort out the situation.
“I hope the authorities take heavy action because it was a disgrace.
“A lot of credit goes to Tom for the way he handled the situation.”
Liverpool said they were work-ing with police in an attempt to ascertain what happened.
“An incident occurred in the second half which is now being investigated by both the club and the police,” said a club statement.
“We will continue to work with the police to establish the details of what actually happened and will make a further statement in due course.”
Meanwhile, Merseyside Police said they had begun an inves-tigation but confirmed, contrary to media reports, there had been no arrests in relation to the incident.