Jayden Bogle was targeted with racist messages on social media in the hours after Leeds’s Premier League meeting with Tottenham on Saturday. The club said they were “appalled” by the abuse and would push for the “strongest possible action” against the senders, in a statement published on Sunday.
Leeds said they will work with the Premier League and relevant authorities to identify the individuals behind the posts.
Tottenham followed with a statement of their own, calling racism “abhorrent behaviour” and offering Leeds support in tracking down those responsible.
“Regardless of club allegiances and on-pitch results, no-one should ever stand alone in the face of this,” the north London club wrote.
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The 34th-minute tackle
The abuse followed a bruising afternoon at Elland Road. Bogle caught Mathys Tel on the Achilles in the 34th minute, and a four-minute VAR review by Tony Harrington ended with no card for the Leeds wing-back, Sky Sports reported.
Tel was substituted in the 43rd minute and later left the stadium on crutches wearing a protective boot. Noah Okafor settled the match for Leeds in the 79th minute, 97 seconds after coming off the bench.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean told Sky Sports the challenge was “100 per cent a red card”, while Steven Gerrard said that in his view the referee would have shown red had he been sent to the pitchside monitor.
Farke defends his “butterfly”
Leeds manager Daniel Farke rejected the idea that Bogle had been reckless. Speaking after the match, he told reporters the defender is “normally probably the softest player in the whole league” and said he always calls him “my butterfly”.
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Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi was less forgiving about the fallout for his squad, describing Tel’s problem as a “bad injury” in his post-match press conference and warning that medical checks would take days.
Spurs plan formal complaint
According to Sports Mole and Goal, Tottenham are expected to submit a formal complaint to the Professional Game Match Officials Board over the handling of the Bogle tackle, with Spurs believed to be citing Jean-Philippe Mateta’s red card against them a week earlier as an inconsistency.
Leeds’s statement confirmed the club has reported the social-media abuse of Bogle to the Premier League and will cooperate with any police inquiry that follows.
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