Racist Scott Sinclair Banner Draped Over Belfast Bonfire

 6 years, 8 months ago 0 Comments

In Belfast the annual celebration of the Eleventh Night has taken place with the usual bonfires being lit in Protestant areas of the City and this year the flames would have been stoked even further after a very unsavoury banner was placed on one of the structures that can sometimes be as high as 100ft tall.

Now the height of this particular bonfire is not all that important but the message displayed on it would have been as Glasgow Celtic forward Scott Sinclair has been the target of racist abuse from the loyalist community in Belfast.

The timing of this could not be any more sensitive due to the fact that Brendan Rodgers is set to bring his side to Northern Ireland on Friday night to face last season’s Premiership winners Linfield in the Champions League Second Qualifying Round.

This is already a tie that has had to be treated with kid gloves as the fixture has been moved to Friday so as not to clash with any Eleventh Night celebrations and to try and diffuse the situation further, Celtic have chosen not to bring any fans for this encounter.

But the blue touch paper will have certainly been lit with a message saying that “Scott Sinclair loves Bananas” a comment that not only does not have a place in society but will have certainly wound up Celtic fans based in both Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Therefore it comes as no real surprise that there has been widespread criticism about the mindless actions of the few as Seamus Darragh (39), chairman of Celtic supporters’ club Dicey Reilly’s, condemned the bonfire display as “absolutely disgusting”.

“No human being’s colour of skin should ever be described in that manner. It’s just despicable,” the Belfast man said.

“It is absolutely disgusting of the highest order. How can they justify that being culture?

“It’s nothing but downright racism. It’s an absolute disgrace.”

The PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) are investigating after receiving numerous complaints in regards to the message on the banner and released a statement in relation to this

“Where police are aware of a crime being committed, an investigation will follow,” the statement said.

For Scott Sinclair this will arguably have little impact on his pre-match preparations but be that as it may it is not something the player should have to deal with especially in this day and age. The best way to silence his detractors will be to turn a match winning performance on Friday night, to say this game could be a as feisty as Neil Lennon finding an empty After Eight mint packet on Christmas day.

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