Millwall manager Alex Neil has criticised the lengthy interruption during his side’s 1-0 defeat to Swansea City, arguing that stopping the match over an alleged racist incident disrupted his team’s momentum.
The Championship fixture at The Den in southeast London was halted for approximately seven minutes on Tuesday night after Swansea winger Eom Ji-sung was allegedly subjected to racist abuse.
Referee Edward Duckworth stopped play in the 65th minute while Eom, a South Korean international, was warming up to enter the game as a substitute.
The official subsequently spoke with both managers before an announcement was made over the stadium’s public address system.
According to the BBC, spectators were informed that alleged racist chanting had been reported and that police were examining CCTV footage to identify the individual responsible.
Millwall Manager Says Interruption Disrupted His Team
Neil acknowledged that an incident had been reported but questioned the length of the stoppage and whether suspending the match was an effective way to address the alleged abuse.
“I understand there’s been an incident,” he said. “It’s not something I’m going to get involved in. That’ll be for the authorities to deal with.
“But the fact that it stops the game for 15 minutes, I just don’t see the point.”
The Millwall manager insisted that discriminatory abuse needed to be addressed but maintained that interrupting the match had affected his players at a crucial stage of the contest.
“It needs to get dealt with, absolutely, but stopping the game doesn’t deal with anything. All it does is kill the momentum,” Neil said.
He also acknowledged that his reaction might have been different had Millwall scored during the closing stages of the match.
“Listen, if we score I probably don’t feel this way, but that’s how I feel just now,” he added.
Neil Questions How Match Officials Managed the Delay
Speaking further during his press conference, Neil explained that the length of the interruption depended on communication between the referee and the stadium safety officer.
He argued that the process had prolonged the stoppage without resolving the incident at the time.
“What happens is the stoppage is because the referee needs to speak to the safety officer.
The safety officer, if he comes down within one minute, the game will start in one minute. If he comes down after half an hour, the game starts in half an hour,” he said.
“That’s why the stoppage was as long as it was, which is a shame because you’re not going to deal with that moment, however disappointing it is, and it is unacceptable. Nothing gets solved then.”
Neil added that the incident had already been reported to the fourth official and other relevant personnel, questioning why the game needed to remain suspended for so long.
“It’s been reported. The fourth official knows about it. All the people involved know about it.
That can get dealt with at a better time. I just don’t understand the point in stopping the game for so long at that stage,” he said.
Swansea Condemns Alleged Abuse of Eom Ji-sung
Swansea City confirmed its support for Eom and condemned racism and discrimination in a statement following the incident.
The Welsh club described the South Korean winger as the victim of the alleged abuse and stressed that discriminatory behaviour was unacceptable in football and wider society.
“As a club we condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, and there is no place for such behaviour in football or in society,” Swansea said.
The club also thanked the match officials, Millwall and the police for their response to the reported incident.
“We stand with Ji-sung and he has our unstinting love and support,” the statement added.
Eom, 24, has represented South Korea at the World Cup and recently won gold at the Asian Games with his national team.
Millwall Pledges Strong Action Against Discrimination
Millwall also issued a statement acknowledging an alleged incident involving discriminatory abuse directed at a Swansea City player.
The London club reiterated its zero-tolerance position on discrimination and said anyone found responsible would face disciplinary action.
“The club operates a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discriminatory abuse,” Millwall said.
“Any individual found to have engaged in such behaviour will face the strongest possible action.”
The club confirmed that a police investigation was under way.
Ronald Scores Late Winner for Swansea
The interruption came during a tightly contested match that ultimately ended in defeat for Millwall.
Swansea secured all three points when Ronald scored in the 90th minute, handing the visitors a 1-0 victory at The Den.
The result came as Swansea continued their campaign at the top of the Championship table.
