BURNLEY, England — A player from Burnley, competing in England’s second tier, has reported receiving “disgusting” racial abuse from an opponent during a match on Saturday.

Hannibal Mejbri, an international player from Tunisia, found himself in a tense confrontation with Milutin Osmajic, who plays for Preston and hails from Montenegro. Mejbri appeared visibly upset and promptly informed referee Andrew Kitchen about the incident.

Following the match, which ended without any goals, Mejbri took to social media platform X to express his stance: “I will not be silent about what happened today. I will always call out racism whenever I hear or see it. That is the only way we change as a sport and a society. I am a strong person but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch.”

In response, Preston issued a statement asserting that Osmajic “strongly refuted the claims of a comment made towards Hannibal Mejbri during a post-match discussion with the officials.”

Scott Parker, the manager of Burnley, noted that his player was evidently impacted by the remarks made by Osmajic. “Something inappropriate was said to Hannibal which he reported,” Parker explained. “You could clearly see he was very distressed, and in that moment, we tried to seek context on what had transpired because he was very emotional. He shared with me what was said, and at that point, we focused on understanding his state of mind. It will now go through the appropriate channels.”

The issue of racial abuse in football has been a persistent challenge, prompting ongoing discussions about how to combat such behavior effectively across all levels of the sport.