UEFA are to investigate claims that Ipswich Town striker Marcus Bent was the victim of racist abuse during his team’s UEFA Cup win at Yugoslav side Sartid Smederevo.
Bent, who scored Ipswich’s winner in their 1-0 victory over Sartid, told BBC radio: “It was a hostile crowd. There was a lot of racist abuse, a lot of spitting when you went near the crowd. “But the boys dealt with it, I dealt with it and all that really matters is that we came away with a 1-0 win.”
A UEFA spokesman confirmed: “We are aware of what happened and we are going to investigate.”
Bent is the latest black player to have been allegedly subjected to racist abuse in European football this season.
UEFA are already investigating abuse reportedly directed at Thierry Henryy during last week’s Champions League victory at PSV Eindhoven along with the treatment of Liverpool’s black contingent when they played in Valencia a fortnight ago.
