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The fallout from the clash between Everton defender Mason Holgate and Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino has continued into this week, with the FA deciding to conduct a probe into the events after referee Bobby Madley made a note of the incidentin his match report, and now the Merseyside Police saying they will look into racist tweets sent out by fans in the aftermath.
The BBC are reporting that after the racist comments were posted on Twitter, Merseyside Police deputy chief constable Carl Foulkes has said:
“We are aware and will be investigating.
“Hate crime will not be tolerated.”
We can confirm we are aware of racist comments posted by a number of individuals on Twitter on 5 January, 2018, and will be investigating this.
— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) January 7, 2018
Deputy Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: “We are working with Liverpool FC and Everton FC and hate crime will not be tolerated."
Aside from the accusations Holgate leveled against Firmino, there was plenty of hate flowing on Twitter during and after the game as Everton and Liverpool fans dug into each other over another bad-tempered Merseyside Derby.
It got worse though as both players continued to be victims of abuse from the respective fanbases, and it appears this is what the Police are going to look into.
There were even accusations as the weekend progressed that the away fans had sung derogatory chants regarding Hillsborough, but these were easily debunked as false by fans of both sides who were at the game.
Sadly it appears this is far from over, and depending on how the FA rules on the clash, there could be more fallout.