Marvin Bartley vows to continue fight for equality after receiving vile racist abuse on social media

Marvin Bartley received racist abuse online after commenting on Rangers' defeat at Sparta Prague, in which Glen Kamara was repeatedly booed by home fans; Bartley posted images of the abuse on Twitter, with the caption: "Never will it stop me as I strive for us to all be treated equally"

Wednesday 6 October 2021 11:23, UK

Marvin Bartley has vowed to continue his fight for equality after receiving vile racist abuse on social media.

The Livingston assistant manager has been targeted after commenting on Rangers' recent Europa League defeat at Sparta Prague, in which Glen Kamara was repeatedly booed by the home crowd of around 10,000 Czech schoolchildren.

The treatment of the Rangers midfielder came five months after Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela was banned for 10 matches having been found guilty by UEFA of racist behaviour towards Kamara.

Scottish Football Association equality advisor Bartley tweeted a photo of decaying strawberries after the match, along with the words: "The worst thing about the scenes in Prague last night is that I'm not shocked in the slightest!

"In no way is this the fault of the CHILDREN because they're behaving in a way they see adults do/encourage. What chance do they have when placed in a bowl with rotten fruit."

Bartley's comments prompted an angry response Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek, who called on the SFA to apologise for the tweet, while Sparta Prague have labelled allegations of racism as "desperate and ridiculous".

Bartley took to Twitter and Instagram on Tuesday to post images of a number of racist messages he has received on social media since the match, alongside the caption: "Excuse the explicit language but this is always the case after you speak about discrimination!

"Never will it stop me as I strive for us to all be treated equally. Enjoy your night."

Livingston also released a statement on Twitter in support of Bartley, which read: "An utterly depressing and disgusting flurry of racial attacks on assistant manager Marvin Bartley today.

"Every single person connected with the club stands firmly alongside Marvin in the battle for equality and an end to racism."

UEFA has confirmed it has opened an investigation into "potential discriminatory incidents" during Rangers' defeat in the Czech Republic.

A statement from UEFA said: "In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding potential discriminatory incidents allegedly occurring during the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group-stage match between AC Sparta Praha and Rangers FC played on 30 September 2021.

"Information on this matter will be made available in due course."

Instagram has been approached for comment.

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