Leeds Maccabi boss Ian Selwyn heaped praise on referee Philip Worth following a racist incident during his side’s Leeds Sunday Alliance League Cup clash.
Selwyn was left fuming after a player from Leeds Amateurs was shown a straight red card for making an alleged racist comment during last Sunday’s 3-2 defeat.
Worth has filed a report to the local Football Association with the offending player now facing the prospect of a ban and possible fine if found guilty.
Selwyn says the actions of the referee should be commended for the way he conducted himself during the incident.
“I thought the referee handled the whole episode extremely well,” he said.
“He heard what was said, called the player over and sent him off.
“It’s the first time in 35-years of non-Jewish football that I’ve ever seen a referee do that.
“There was a big crowd and he could have bottled it or pretended he hadn’t heard what had been said.
“But he was very strong and gave the player a red card, which was the correct decision.
“That kind of thing has no place on the football pitch or in society, but unfortunately we expect it.”
Referee Philip Worth confirmed that he sent off a player from Leeds Amateurs FC for shouting “**** off back to Jew-land” to a Maccabi player and has included the incident in his report to West Riding County FA.
Officials from Leeds Amateurs FC were unavailable for comment.
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