Some West Brom fans have been sharing support for Jonathan Leko on social media after the 20-year-old winger has released a statement following the FA’s publication of the independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for coming to their decision that Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla “had racially abused a fellow player on the field of play”.
The FA announced on Friday the 28th of February, that Casilla will be “suspended for eight matches”, fined £60,000 and obliged to attend “face-to-face education” after an independent Regulatory Commission found him in breach of FA rule E3(2), having “made reference to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin towards a Charlton Athletic player”.
The victim of the racial abuse in question, Jonathan Leko, the West Brom winger who was playing on loan at Charlton Athletic at the time, has released a statement following the FA’s publication of the independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for reaching their decision in this case.
In his statement, Leko expressed the difficulty he has felt watching Casilla “continue to play” since the incident originally occurred on the 28th of September 2019, “as if nothing had happened”.
The 20-year-old went on to explain that the “stressful” nature of the hearing, in addition to the lack of support he received from “the game’s governing bodies” led him to “question whether (he) would be prepared to go through it all again”.
West Brom’s official club Twitter account shared Leko’s statement in a tweet that has attracted the attention of some Baggies supporters, who have taken the opportunity to share their support for Leko and his statement. Read the supportive reactions of some West Brom fans to Leko’s statement in the tweets below.
Jonathan Leko statement.https://t.co/qAGgThNDQs
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) March 4, 2020
Good on you for standing up for yourself and also for highlighting the flaws in the process.
Unfortunately these incidents will happen again to other players and all bodies that are created to help need to show they can help and in a much faster manner
Good luck with recovery too— JonW1995 (@JonW1995) March 4, 2020
Well done Jon ??
— alf (@alfwbaV3) March 4, 2020
The main thing is that the club and all of us are behind Jon always. Racism HAS NO HOME in any walk of life and especially in sport. The Leeds keeper should be utterly ashamed of what he has done . What is even more disturbing is the lack of support from the authorities for Jon.
— Carl 1878 ????? (@baggyboy1878) March 4, 2020
The lack of support & dialogue to Jon during this lengthy period is nothing short of shocking. It’s OK to preach about the issue, but how about supporting the players who have been exposed to it? @PFA @kickitout
Disgraceful.
— Paul Harris (@Hero_Taylor9) March 4, 2020
All Behind you Leko ????
— Jack (@ftblJackv2) March 4, 2020
We are all behind you leko ?
— Joe (@Yacxb) March 4, 2020
we’re with you jonny???
— Joeyyyy?? (@JoeEdgehillWBA) March 4, 2020
Well said Jonny. No place in the game for it. To think it’s been so long to get it sorted is a disgrace.
— Ben Payne (@BenPayne7) March 4, 2020
What do we think?
The PFA have released a public apology to the 20-year-old following his statement criticising the lack of support he received from the game’s governing bodies, stating that they intend to “review (their) procedures” for the future.
Considering that Leko has stated that he was made to “question whether (he) would be prepared to go through it all again” in his statement, it may be necessary for the game’s governing bodies to review their procedures as the PFA have claimed that they intend to do, to be better prepared to offer adequate support to players who find themselves in the same unfortunate position as Leko in the future.