St Helens are investigating allegations of racist abuse towards a seven-year-old boy

St Helens are investigating allegations of racist abuse towards a seven-year-old boy, who wore a Catalans Dragons kit to Thursday evening's season opener. 

The young boy's mother took to social media to after the first contest of the new Betfred Super League season to report the allegations.

"First game of the new season should have been fun for Oliver and it would have been had he not had to endure racist comments from a small number [of] St Helens fans (adults as well as children)," his mother said on social media.

"All because he supports Catalans Dragons and they (wrongly) assumed he was French. As a result of these comments, he's been left tearful and wondering if he even wants to wear his Dragons kit to games, as he is worried it will happen again.

"Oliver is seven-years-old and everyone who knows him knows rugby is his life, but now his conference is shattered. As his mum, to see him so upset breaks my heart. He was just a little boy out to support a team, he did not deserve the abuse from a minority of narrow-minded and ignorant 'fans'.

"Every fan [should] be able to go [to] a match and enjoy the game they love without fear of any kind of abuse."

The mother continued to say that she had reported the incident to the club and would be formalising the complaint. She also thanked the stewards who gave her son reassurance on the night.

St Helens have said they "do not condone abuse of any kind" and that they will be investigating the matter. They have invited the boy and his mother to the Players' Lounge when they are next at a Saints game.

Sky Sports News have contacted Merseyside Police for comment.

In response to the social media post from the young boy's mother, the official Rugby League World Cup team replied to invite the seven-year-old and his mother to England versus France later in the year.

Supporters from all teams across rugby league also showed their support for the young fan. St Helens made it clear that "a small minority of fans do not represent the views of our Club".

The official Catalans Dragons account acknowledged the boy's support of them and said, 'We love you Oliver. See you soon!'.

The boy's mother then followed up with a second post on Friday afternoon.

"Thanks everyone for all your messages to Steeley. The purpose of the previous post, contrary to some of the tweets I've seen, wasn't to gain 'freebies' it was to highlight what happened last night," she said.

"Some people have gone as far as to take pictures from his profile 'because he supports other teams'. Yes, he does! He is a little boy who loves rugby league and takes every opportunity to play or watch the sport."

"This is a sport he loves," she continued later in the post. "He can take the banter and he can give just like the majority of fans but the things that were said to him last hurt him, and as a parent, hurt me.

"Hopefully the club will look into this and what can be done to prevent this happening to another child."

"We are aware of an allegation made during our Betfred Super League victory over Catalans Dragons on Thursday night. As a club we take these allegations very seriously. We do not condone abuse of any kind," a statement from St Helens read on Friday.

"We have spoken to the family involved and have ensured them we are undertaking a thorough investigation based on the information that has been provided to us.

"We will make no further comment whilst these investigations are ongoing."