Racist slurs shouted at Ajax goalie; Telstar distances self from "misconduct"

Football club Telstar released a statement on Wednesday, distancing itself from the behavior of its fans in a cup match against Ajax. During the match, fans shouted racist slurs at Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, NU.nl reports.

Several people said on social media that spectators shouted "banana" at Onana, among other things. During the match Telstar said that it took note of events. The club released a statement afterwards.

"As a club we are terribly sick of he misconduct of a number who thereby put a negative stamp on an evening that otherwise went great", the club wrote on their site, not mentioning the word "racist" or "racism". "We can and will never accept that players from our opponent, our own players, or anyone else are treated in a way that is at odds with everything that Telstar is. We will take the signals from tonight very seriously."

The club said it will view surveillance camera footage to find the perpetrators, and "crack down" on anyone who "misbehaved".

Ajax won the match 3-4.

Over the past weeks there were multiple incidents of racism on football fields in the Netherlands. In November, a match between FC Den Bosch and Excelsior was stopped after racist slurs were shouted at Ahmad Mendes Moreira. And "Zwarte Piet" was shouted at a JOS Watergraafsmeer player in Emmen and at PSV striker Sekou Sidibe was called "Zwarte Piet" at Helmond Sport.