Haringey Borough vs Yeovil FA Cup match to be replayed

The Football Association has ordered that Haringey Borough’s abandoned FA Cup qualifying match with Yeovil is to be replayed.

Haringey’s goalkeeper Valery Douglas Pajetat said he was spat at, struck by a bottle and subjected to racist abuse, before his team-mate, Cobie Rowe, was also allegedly targeted by racist chants.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault following the incident.

Now, the FA has decided that the game should be replayed on October 29 at Haringey’s Coles Park Stadium.

An FA statement said: “Following the abandonment of the Emirates FA Cup fourth-round qualifying fixture between Haringey Borough and Yeovil Town, the FA Challenge Cup Committee has made the decision for the original fixture to be replayed on Tuesday 29 October at Haringey Borough FC.

“In the event that a replay is required, this shall be played on Tuesday 5 November.

“Following the incident in the original tie and the two arrests already made, The FA’s investigation is ongoing. We are continuing to work with the relevant authorities on our investigation into the matter.”

There should be a “zero tolerance” on racism

Haringey Borough chairman Aki Achillea believes there should be a “zero tolerance” on racism after his players walked off in their FA Cup tie with Yeovil on Saturday.

Achillea believes the only way to eradicate the issue from football is to not tolerate any racist abuse whatsoever.

He said: “It has to become totally unacceptable. People have said this before – zero tolerance is the answer. This suggestion in the protocol that you announce twice on the public address system that fans should desist from this type of behaviour simply won’t cut it.

“It has to be zero tolerance. I know a lot of the football pundits who have discussed it recently on television have said that’s what needs to happen and it does need to be zero tolerance.

“Teams who take the stance that they take as long as they take it in the right circumstances, if things have genuinely happened, then they have to be supported – they have to get support from the very top.

“I fully appreciate that we need to fulfil fixtures as a club.

“But at the end of the day, this is not about football. When I see and I find out that my players have been racially abused then I support them in the actions they took, and I support my manager in taking the players off when he did and I hope ultimately that we get support from the right channels in relation to what we did.”

Achillea, who was previously unsure whether walking off in such circumstances was the best idea, revealed that Saturday’s instances changed his mind.

“I was always anti walking off the pitch. I’d always supported those who decided not to let the people who chant these things win. It would set a dangerous precedent that people, if their team was losing, could resort to these sort of tactics if they felt that a team would walk off the pitch,” he said.

“That was my view because I don’t think I really fully appreciated the affect upon the recipient of that racial abuse and I fully appreciate now, having seen the affect upon my players on Saturday when I went straight into the dressing room afterwards.

“There were a lot of distraught and angry boys in that dressing room and I have no doubt that we made 100 per cent the correct decision to come off and I would do it again if the circumstances were repeated.”

(c) Sky Sports 2019: Haringey Borough vs Yeovil FA Cup match to be replayed