The club’s playing staff are in a row with the club over an allegation of racism
The playing staff of non-league side Barnet claim they have been threatened with the sack after an allegation of racism against a staff member.
The Mirror revealed that Barnet’s players went on strike after their heavy defeat to Stockport County last weekend and reportedly refused to play in their game against Southend United which takes place tonight (February 1) before being threatened with the sack.
During their game against County a member of the Barnet coaching staff is alleged to have called Stockport’s Ryan Johnson a “monkey” in which the victim told the players of Barnet.
Captain of Barnet, Jamie Turley as a result then asked for the individual to not be present at training the following Monday – only for the unnamed person to arrive.
Despite Turley’s protests he was suspended, leading to the full squad informing the Bees’ management team that they would not play in the game at Southend but later changed their minds after being threatened with the termination of their contracts.
Barnet chairman Anthony Kleanthous responded to the allegations and said that reports that he threatened to sack players were inaccurate.
“I have not spoken with the team at all and am not aware of any direct ‘termination’ threat to the players,” he said.
“However, it is worth noting that the players are contracted under the standard FA playing contracts to participate in football matches, so I would assume that any threats not to play would be a breach of their contracts and would carry heavy sanctions from the National League.”
Kleanthous did confirm however that Turley had been suspended, saying: “Jamie Turley has been suspended on full pay by HR at the Club following a separate internal complaint.
“This is standard staff disciplinary procedure and good practice to allow for the appropriate investigation to be carried out.
“To be clear, a suspension is not in and of itself a disciplinary action or a reflection of guilt, but rather allows the space for an investigation to be efficiently and thoroughly conducted without any third-party influence.”
He also added that police has investigated the incident and that Barnet does “not tolerate racism or any other form of abuse.”
Kleanthous added: “An investigation was carried out in full on the day of the alleged incident.
“This was conducted by the Safety Officer, who has overarching authority over these matters on match days, and in consultation with the attending Police present at the game.
“Witnesses were interviewed with statements taken and the matter was reported to the London Matchday Silver Commander in a debrief to MO6 HQ Football Unit in line with MPS Policy. The senior police officer at the scene confirms there was no allegation or substance for a criminal investigation to take place.
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