FA Investigates Hannibal Mejbri’s Racial Abuse Claim Against Preston’s Milutin Osmajic

The Football Association (FA) has launched an investigation into Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri’s allegation of racial abuse against Preston North End forward Milutin Osmajic during Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Deepdale. Hannibal reported the incident immediately to referee Andrew Kitchen, and the FA is expecting to receive the official’s report on Monday, which will include details of the incident.

Following the game, Hannibal took to Instagram to address the issue, stating, “I will not be silent about what happened. I will always call out racism whenever I hear or see it. That is the only way we change as a sport and a society. I am a strong person but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch.”

Burnley have confirmed their awareness of the alleged comment and have pledged their full support to the 22-year-old midfielder. In a statement released on Saturday, Preston said, “Milutin Osmajic has strongly refuted the claims of a comment made towards Hannibal Mejbri in a post-match meeting with today’s match officials.”

Burnley manager Scott Parker spoke to BBC Sport after the game, expressing his concern for Hannibal: “He’s hurt. I think everyone could see that at the time. Hannibal’s an emotional player and he was visibly very stressed by what was said. I don’t want to get into the real details of what was said, I’m sure it’ll come out in due course. Hannibal’s reported it and is bitterly gutted, so we’ll see what happens in the coming days.”

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has reached out to Burnley to offer its support, while anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out (KIO) commended Hannibal for his courage in immediately raising the alleged abuse with the referee. KIO stated, “When allegations occur, reporting them immediately and through the right channels helps them be addressed. Hannibal deserves credit for bringing the incident to the referee’s attention. Speaking up takes huge courage. We also commend the officials for following the correct protocols. We expect an investigation to be carried out swiftly and sensitively.”

The two sides are set to meet again at Deepdale in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, 1 March. This incident comes just months after Osmajic was banned for eight games by the FA and fined £15,000 for biting Blackburn’s Owen Beck in October, an offense for which he admitted a charge of violent conduct.