Birmingham’s Juninho Bacuna has alleged he was racially abused at West Brom as boss Tony Mowbray called for stronger punishments.
The midfielder raised an incident with the fourth official Tom Nield in injury time of the 1-0 defeat at The Hawthorns.
Bacuna was seen pointing at the crowd at full-time, having also spoken to referee David Webb, while West Midlands Police are expected to launch an investigation.
“You have to have a deterrent for the guy who’s had a few drinks, he comes to the match and there’s an opportunity in his mind to shout some racial abuse,” said Mowbray, after Andreas Weimann’s late winner for Albion. “He has to think: ‘Hang on a minute’.
“You make decisions and there has to be a consequence, he shouts this thing and he knows he might never watch football again in this stadium.
“The consequences have to be severe. You can’t just say ‘sorry mate.’ What drives someone to say those things?
“Bacca told me what he said, I don’t think it’s pertinent to share those things but it’s not very nice.
“That individual should feel the consequences of his actions. It’s right he brings it to the attention of the officials.
“Whose job is it to make the right decisions and what are the consequences? They have to be really harsh so people think twice about racially abusing people.”
It is the third incident of alleged racial abuse towards Bacuna since September 2022.
Then he was targeted online after being sent off for Curacao against Indonesia and in October – against Huddersfield at St Andrew’s – he was abused.
Saturday’s game improved after an instantly forgettable first half – where the teams cancelled each other out – and Alex Mowatt headed wide eight minutes after the re-start.
Brandon Thomas-Asante also fired over but Birmingham came close to an opener with 20 minutes left, Kevin Long’s flick from Andre Dozzell’s corner hitting the inside of the post.
It was an escape the Baggies capitalised on and, with five minutes left, Weimann’s fine close-range finish from Darnell Furlong’s cross won it for the hosts.
But another incident – following last week’s crowd trouble during the FA Cup defeat to rivals Wolves – marred the game.
“I cannot speculate what happened there but it is something I know – if there is an incident our club will always analyse,” said Baggies boss Carlos Corberan, who became a dad for the second time on Friday after the birth of son Dario.
“Because if there is any antagonistic behaviour, I know my club and my players are always against this type of situations.
“I am in a club that is very proactive to create more fair situations for anyone.
“If there was something connecting with racism, I know my players always take the knee and we are one of the clubs that has been making more things in favour to avoid any type of antagonising situations.
“I know the club will take a serious investigation if something has been damaging to people.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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