Sheff Utd, Everton condemn racist abuse sent to Holgate after red card

Sheffield United and Everton have condemned the racist abuse received by Mason Holgate in the wake of Sunday’s game against Brighton.

Holgate, who is on loan at the Blades from the Toffees, was sent off in the 13th minute for a reckless thigh-high challenge on Kaoru Mitoma, with the VAR advising referee Stuart Attwell to upgrade an initial yellow card to red.

Brighton went on to win 5-0 at Bramall Lane and Holgate subsequently received racist abuse on social media which he has shared on his Instagram account.

“I can only apologise for letting my team-mates, club and fans down on the weekend & have done so this week personally,” Holgate wrote.

“However, the last 48 hours have been difficult to take… the constant racist abuse across my social media… here are some of the messages!

“As a sport + society we need to do more and there needs to be consequences for racism!”

Sheffield United said in a statement: “Sheffield United condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the racist abuse received by Mason Holgate following Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion.

“We will support Mason and applaud him bringing this to light on social media. The club will work with relevant bodies to investigate. There is no room for racism in our game.”

Holgate’s parent club Everton also released a statement in support of their 27-year-old.

A club statement read: “Everton Football Club strongly condemns the racist and discriminatory abuse Mason Holgate has suffered.

“Such abuse is vile and will not and should not be tolerated. The Club offers Mason its full support and praises his actions for speaking out.

“We must all take a zero-tolerance stance by reporting such behaviour to social media platforms and the authorities. Racism has no place online, in our stadia or in our communities.”

Wilder ‘torn’ over Holgate red as Redknapp lambasts ‘scandalous’ foul

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder said he was “torn” over Holgate’s red card but admitted he had no complaints about the on-loan defender being sent off.

“I’m torn between this,” he said. “I’m a competitor, it was a very strong challenge. The game’s moved on. Some people won’t want it to move on, will expect physical contact, excessive force or whatever you call it, winning the ball and challenging in that way is deemed unacceptable. We’ve got no excuses, nowhere to hide.

“The ref gave a yellow card straight away and thought it wasn’t [a red] straight away, but when he went over to the monitor and saw it slowed down, which never makes it good viewing. It’s something I’m not sure we should do because there’s a lot of challenges [which would look worse].”

Referee Stuart Attwell initially showed the defender a yellow card before VAR Michael Oliver sent him to the review monitor, with Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp later describing the foul on Kaoru Mitoma, which caught the Japan winger halfway up his leg, as “scandalous”.

Redknapp said: “It’s one of the worst tackles I’ve seen in years. Even in my era, that would’ve been a scandalous tackle,” he told Sky Sports.

“How on earth Mitoma’s managed to get his leg out of the way, I’ve no idea but thank goodness he has or that’s career-ending.

“I feel so sorry for Chris Wilder when you have a player who does that. I’ve got no idea what he’s thinking, he’s cost his team.”