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Gardaí to probe racism claim from Man City player following banana throwing incident

Gael Clichy made the allegation on his Twitter account, saying it was ‘sad to see’.

AN INVESTIGATION HAS been launched after Manchester City defender Gael Clichy claimed he was the victim of racism.

The French international left-back made the claims after a banana was thrown onto the pitch during his side’s friendly win over Limerick.

Gardaí and stadium officials are studying CCTV footage in an attempt to identify a spectator alleged to have thrown the missile onto the pitch during the Premier League champions’ 4-0 pre-season friendly victory at Thomond Park on Sunday.

A statement from Limerick FC and Thomond Park Stadium said: “The gardaí and stadium officials are reviewing the CCTV recordings to attempt to identify an individual involved in the throwing of an offensive object onto the playing field.” The statement continued:

Any individual identified as being involved in an incident of this nature will be banned from future attendance and the matter will be handed over to the gardaí.

“All those involved with the friendly game fully condemn all forms of unacceptable behaviour of this nature.”

It is understood Manchester City made no formal complaint over the incident, which was mentioned by Clichy via his Twitter account.

The French player tweeted: “How sad to see ‘bananas thrown on the pitch’ tonight… Knowing people around the world need food. #nowordsforthis.”

A crowd of over 20,600 football supporters packed into Thomond Park, home of Munster Rugby, on Sunday afternoon to watch the pre-season friendly.

Two goals from Edin Dzeko and one each from Dedryck Boyata and Luca Scapuzi saw Roberto Mancini’s side home as comfortable 4-0 winners.

The incident came as Newcastle asked Den Haag to investigate reports of racist chanting from sections of home fans during the friendly game between the two clubs at the Kyocera Stadium the previous day.

(Additional reporting - © AFP, 2012)

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