Shrewsbury keeper claims racial abuse from crowd in Charlton defeat

The Slovakian reacted to a comment from the crowd before his side conceded a second goal from a free-kick.

A hold-up of over five minutes also saw official Sam Purkiss talk to ground security at The Valley.

Cotterill did not want to dwell further on the incident, but he could not hide his contempt.

He said: “Our goalkeeper had something shouted at him. I’m not prepared to repeat it, if I did it would be very offensive.

“It’s certainly not timely in this moment, with what’s going on in the world.

“And also, to get his nationality right would be handy.

“He’s OK, it’s not a nice thing that happened today, I don’t know if it’s the first time it’s happened to him in his career.

“I don’t think Marko will press charges. It’s best to let it go, otherwise he’ll be targeted – I think it was more about getting the person out of the ground for what he said to him.”

Marosi later released a statement on Twitter, which read: “Want to thank my manager, the staff, my teammates and the fans for their support after todays incident.

“Just want to clear up any decisions that were made today were made by me, I then took it to gaffer, told him I didn’t want to press charges and he told me they will stand by whatever decision I make. 

“The incident will be dealt with appropriately by Charlton Athletic and we should leave the matter to them. We all stand together.”

Following the complaint of discriminatory abuse during the match game against Shrewsbury Town, the Charlton has provided a further update.

The club statement said: "The club can confirm that police are investigating the incident and appealing for information, however no arrests have been made at this stage. 

"Police have said that it has been established that the two individuals who were removed from the stadium at the request of referee Sam Purkiss were not involved in the abuse. They were allowed to leave with no further action taken against them. The club would like to thank the individuals for their compliance. 

"The club are continuing to work with the police in an effort to identify those who were involved in the incident. Any supporters with information on the incident are advised to get in touch with the club or call 101.

"The club has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination and a long history of promoting equality and tackling discrimination."

The Met Police confirmed that they escorted two males from the stadium.

A spokesman said: “Shortly before the end of the match between Shrewsbury and Charlton at The Valley on Saturday, 23 April, the referee was made aware of racial abuse directed at a Shrewsbury player. 

“Two males were escorted from the stand by stewards and were handed over to officers. 

“After making further enquiries and speaking to witnesses, it was established that the two men escorted from the stand were not involved in the abuse. They were allowed to leave with no further action taken against them. 

“Officers will work with the club to carry out further enquiries in an effort to identify those who were involved in the incident.”

Shrewsbury said they were “disgusted” by the “alleged vile racist abuse”.

They said in a statement: “We hope the individual learns that this abhorrent verbal abuse will not be tolerated anywhere in football or in any walk of life.

“Shrewsbury Town stands together against discrimination and we stand with Marko. We will provide Marko with any support he needs and we will do everything within our power to ensure this incident is dealt with appropriately.”

The incident overshadowed a win for the south London side, secured with two second-half goals.

After a disappointing first half, Shrewsbury created the first chance three minutes after the restart.

Craig MacGillivray pulled off a fine double save, firstly from Ryan Bowman then from a follow-up by Joshua Daniels.

Conor Washington avoided the offside trap in the 63rd minute and broke through on goal, but Marosi blocked his shot.

The hosts went ahead a minute later when Jayden Stockley headed home from an Albie Morgan corner.

The Marosi incident saw the 28-year-old react to a comment from a supporter, which ended with a fan being removed from the stadium.

The delay proved to be significant, as substitute Chuks Aneke netted with his head after a Morgan delivery.

Charlton Athletic's Chuks Aneke celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Sky Bet League One match at The Valley, London

Charlton manager Johnnie Jackson was careful with his words regarding the alleged incident.

However, he was pleased with the result at the final home game for his side this season – and praised strikers Washington and Stockley.

He said “There’s been an incident – the goalkeeper made an allegation of racism, it’s a delicate matter.

“The club will now look into it.

“I’m really pleased to get the win, it’s not been the most ideal campaign. Supporters will get behind you if you give them something to cling to.

“Washington and Stockley are really good front partners at this level, we’ve only lost one when those two have started.

“We have won six of the last nine games, the results have been really good recently.”

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