Sports

West Ham suspend coach

Published

6 years ago

October 17, 2018

West Ham have suspended youth coach Mark Phillips after he took part in a controversial march last weekend , the Premier League club announced on Wednesday .
The Democratic Football Lads Alliance have faced accusations that they are a racist and Islamophobic group .

They marched through central London on Saturday to protest against what their Facebook page said were “ returning jihadists, veterans treated like traitors , thousands of AWOL ( absent without leave ) migrants ” , inadequate sentences for paedophiles and an “ epidemic of gang and knife crime ” .

Phillips , in a series of posts on his Twitter account which he has now made private, said he attended the march and defended the DFLA against claims it was “ far right” and responsible for violence with police and anti – fascism protesters on Saturday .

Those tweets were forwarded to the football anti -discrimination charity Kick It Out , who in turn passed them onto England ’ s governing Football Association , as Phillips is a “ participant in the game ” .

With Phillips not appearing to have broken any laws , however , the matter was referred to West Ham .

As Phillips does not appear to have broken any laws , the case was passed on to his club , which took the decision to suspend him on Tuesday .
In a statement, a West Ham spokesperson said : “ West Ham United is an inclusive football club . Regardless of gender , age , race, ability , religion or sexual orientation , every supporter within our diverse fanbase is warmly welcomed at London Stadium.

“ We have a zero tolerance policy to any form of violent or abusive behaviour . ”

In February , West Ham sacked director of player recruitment Tony Henry over remarks he had made saying some African players “ cause mayhem” and that the Hammers “ don’ t want any more Africans ” .

( AFP )