Hibs ace 'racially abused during Dundee United clash' as former player urges authorities to act

Marvin Bartley has urged Scottish football chiefs to take action after a Hibs player was allegedly subjected to racial abuse during his side’s 1-0 defeat by Dundee United at Tannadice on Tuesday night.

Jair Tavares, who replaced Marijan Čabraja on 77 minutes, appeared to be targeted by a supporter as he rushed to get the ball back in play as time ticked down during the cinch Premiership clash, rescheduled from Saturday September 10 when all matches were postponed in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth.

A video clip shared by Bartley on social media contains audio of a spectator appearing to shout, ‘f*** you, ya black b******’ as the winger retrieves the ball.

The Livingston assistant boss currently serves as the Scottish FA’s Equality and Diversity Advisor.

Writing on Twitter he said: "I tried and tried to convince myself that I had misheard this but after listening multiple times I’m unfortunately right.

"To hear someone shout this and abuse someone for their skin colour breaks my heart. We’re now at a point where either the authorities do something about it or they simply tell us they don’t care.

"I wish I could explain the pain and heartache this sort of stuff causes but it’s impossible to put into words.

“My heart genuinely goes out to Jair, all he was trying to do was his job and getting the ball to speed up play.

The alleged incident happened towards the end of the cinch Premiership match at Tannadice on Tuesday night

"There is no chance that the people around him didn’t hear the scumbag who shouted this. I hope the ones who did report it to the club but if they don’t then the SFA and SPFL need to come down hard because this is as clear as it gets.

"We can’t allow these people to ruin our beautiful game or ruin the reputation of a country I’m glad to call home.

"Nights like tonight are hard to deal with and I was only listening, it was aimed at Jair.

"If I can leave you with one thing – if you still fail to get it, look in the mirror and imagine the person looking back at you isn’t accepted by some because of the colour of your skin!”

Writing on his own social media account, Tavares said: “Almost 2023... smh [shaking my head] time goes on and nothing changes… this sh*t must end!!! Sad thing to hear but we stay strong.”

Speaking in October last year Bartley called on clubs to take action if a team member was subjected to racial abuse during a match.

“I’ve been an advocate of walking off pitches for quite a long time because nothing else is working. It has to be an immediate response and it has to inconvenience people,” the former Hibs midfielder said.

“If teams walked off, broadcasters would say, ‘We’re not paying to broadcast your games if your fans have a tendency to racially-abuse and after half an hour the game could be over’. Sponsors wouldn’t pay either.

“I fear all football at the moment. If a person of colour makes a mistake, I know what will follow on social media.

"It’s now gone from making a mistake out there and being racially abused to simply being out there and being abused, often by your own fans. We are going backwards and it has to stop.”