Fan gets three-year ban for racially abusing Tottenham’s Son

For racially abusing Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, a Crystal Palace fan has received a three-year ban from football.

South Korea forward Son was abused when he was substituted in the 89th minute during Tottenham’s 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace in May this year.

The culprit, 44-years-old Robert Garland, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment in August after shouting and gesturing towards Son.

He was initially sentenced to 60 hours of unpaid work and fined £1,384, but Spurs and the Metropolitan Police appealed to the UK Football Policing Unit over the sentence.

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Kevin Christie from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “This case shows that hate crime at football will not be tolerated.

“Garland’s actions were rightly condemned on social media and we call on all fans to carry on calling out any form of discriminatory behaviour against players or fans to the police or stewards so we can take cases like this to court.”

The Premier League said it “welcomed” the banning order, which means Garland will not be able to go to any regulated match for three years and will need to surrender his passport when international fixtures are scheduled.

“It is vital that those found guilty of discriminatory behaviour are held to account, and this punishment sends a clear message that action will be taken and there are consequences,” the Premier League said.

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