SPORT minister Mims Davies has backed an East Lancashire amateur football club that took its players off the pitch after a goalkeeper was racially abused.

In the House of Commons, on a debate about racism in football, the minister referred to the case where Padiham were fined £165 by the Lancashire FA for walking off the pitch after Tony Aghayere was abused by supporters at Congleton.

“It cannot be right for clubs to be fined for players taking action and walking off the pitch if they are receiving racist abuse,” said Davies.

“It is vital that players are supported. This sends out the wrong signal. The FA must review whether their rules and the guidance they give to clubs is effective.”

Padiham’s manager at the time took the decision to remove the players from the pitch, a move backed by club chairman Shaun Astin.

In a tweet, Mr Astin said: “We decided to take our players off in a game because our goalkeeper was being racially abused.

“We were fined £165 and the (alleged) offending club were fined £160.

“Where is the justice there?”

Mr Smith said: “It was absolutely the correct decision and I would do it again tomorrow.”

The Lancashire FA said: “The matter was subsequently heard by an Independent Regulatory Commission convened by The FA. Written reasons will be published by The FA in due course and both clubs would have had the opportunity to appeal the outcome.

“All county FAs continue to work hard – both independently and collectively – on tackling any forms of discrimination within the game.

“We encourage all participants and clubs to continue to report incidents.”