Jamie Arnold, a Wolves fan, has been sentenced to six months in prison for racially abusing Rio Ferdinand, a former Manchester United defender.
Arnold, a 32-year-old individual from Norton Bridge in Staffordshire, was recently charged with causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm, or distress. Last month, a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand.
Five months of his sentence are for this offense, and one more month is for breaching a previous conviction, which also involved racism.
He also got a seven-year ban from attending football matches in the UK and abroad.
The sentence is the harshest punishment ever given to a football fan who was found guilty of using racist language at a football match.
According to Sky Sports News, the previous longest sentence given was for eight weeks. This happened after Jonathon Best live-streamed himself racially abusing England’s black players following the Euros final in 2020.
“You have brought shame on your city and shame to your team,” said judge Her Honour Rhona Campbell in her statement. “Wolverhampton Wanderers do not want a racist on their terraces; they do not want you as a fan; and this city does not tolerate racist behaviour in its midst.”
Ahead of the sentencing, the prosecution read a victim impact statement on behalf of Ferdinand, which said: “I was extremely distressed, distraught and devastated by this.
“As an ex-professional football player who has played all over the world representing my club and country I have unfortunately experienced racist comments and gestures whilst playing, however I have learnt to deal with these and have always been supported.
“However working on TV this is something I have never experienced as a pundit, to be inside a football stadium which was live on TV broadcast around the world makes me sad and angry that someone felt the need to do this to me, which is something I will never ever forget.
“I am constantly thinking about the incident, this is mainly because I was abused inside a football stadium during a live football game that I was involved in providing media coverage.
“Still to this day I do not know why I was abused at Molineux on 23 May 2021, this abuse was unprovoked and completely unacceptable. I accept as an ex-professional football player there will be supporters who will voice opinions about me or whilst I am working on TV, what I don’t accept is that the opinions or gestures made about me or towards me should be abusive and racist where comments are made regarding the colour of my skin and my background.
“The male who abused me has showed a complete lack of respect for me, my family, Wolves FC and everyone associated to football. The male needs to understand how they made me feel and most importantly take responsibility for their actions. It is now 2021 and behaviour like this is completely unacceptable.
“I have worked extremely hard in my life to get to where I am in my career and never thought an incident like this would have such an impact on my life and on my career.
“I am pursuing this case to court because I strongly believe something needs to happen to eradicate racism not only from football but from all forms of society and therefore put my faith in the criminal justice system to ensure this happens.”
Ferdinand worked as a pundit for BT Sport when Manchester United played against Wolves at Molineux on May 23, 2021. This was the first game with fans back in the stadium after coronavirus restrictions were lifted.
Ferdinand celebrated when United scored. Arnold responded by making a racist gesture and using a racist word against Ferdinand.
Ferdinand didn’t witness the abuse, but he was deeply upset and disturbed when he learned about it.
Five witnesses testified that they saw Mr. Arnold make the gesture. CCTV footage also captured him making the same gesture later, which the prosecution claimed was him informing his father about his actions.
The police officer’s body camera recorded Arnold admitting to his actions and calling himself a derogatory name.
In a statement in November, Ferdinand said: “Racism will only be eradicated when we all work together as a society!
“The prosecution wouldn’t have been possible without all the help and support from the witnesses, Wolves fans and staff that came forward to testify in court.
“Special thank you to Police Constable Stuart Ward (Football Hate Crime Officer), my family and my team at New Era!”
Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Midlands, Alistair Redford, said: “Arnold made despicable racist gestures towards a victim who was just trying to do his job.
“I would like to thank the stewards whose quick-thinking actions ensured they could identify and remove Arnold from the stadium that day, and for Mr Ferdinand and witnesses who came forward to help us build as strong a case as possible.”
Douglas Mackay, CPS sports lead, added: “It is hugely disappointing to see a so-called football fan’s behaviour devolve into a derogatory hate crime and spoil what should have been a triumphant return of football following the pandemic.
“There’s no place for hate in the beautiful game and the perpetrators of such crimes can expect to be prosecuted.”
Meanwhile, a Kick It Out spokesperson said: “Kick It Out welcomes the guilty verdict handed to Arnold. It is imperative that perpetrators of discriminatory abuse are held to account for their actions and we hope this result sends a strong statement that racism has no place in our, or in society.
“We commend the CPS and West Midlands Police for their work securing justice in this case and would urge authorities across the country to take similar incidents of discriminatory abuse just as seriously.
“We continue to work with partners across football to tackle discriminatory abuse as it happens and to ensure that victims receive the support they need. We would encourage anyone who witnesses discrimination of any sort in future to report it directly to us at Kick It Out.”
And PC Stuart Ward of the West Midlands Police, who became the UK’s first hate crime officer in a football unit, stated that it is unacceptable and morally wrong to insult someone based on their skin color.
“Arnold is old enough to know such appalling behaviour is inexcusable and certainly won’t be tolerated.
“I know from personal experience how being a victim of racism hurts while offenders risk their own aspirations through getting a criminal record.
“I would like to thank Rio for his assistance in this investigation. Through his support we’ve ensured a man has this conviction to his name.”
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