A man was ejected from Anfield after reports of racial abuse directed at Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo during the season’s opening Premier League game against Liverpool.

Match referee Anthony Taylor paused play in the 29th minute after Semenyo accused a spectator of racist abuse.

An anti-discrimination message was read out to the Anfield crowd, and it is understood that police officers went into the referee’s room at half-time.

Merseyside Police said an investigation is under way after the 47-year-old man’s identity was confirmed and he was removed from the ground.

Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander for the Liverpool v Bournemouth game, said: “Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form.

“We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible.”

He added: “There is no place for racism and it is vital that anyone who witnesses such an offence reports it to stewards, or the police immediately, so we can take the necessary action like we did this evening.

“As with all matches, we work very closely with both Liverpool and Everton FC to ensure the safety of the public, and the players.”

A spokesperson for Liverpool said the club was “aware of an allegation of racist abuse made during our Premier League game against Bournemouth”.

The Liverpool spokesperson said: “We condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, it has no place in society, or football.

“The club is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged is incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully.”

After the incident, Semenyo scored twice in the second half to help bring Bournemouth back from two goals down at Anfield before Liverpool went on to eventually win the contest 4-2.

Bournemouth captain Adam Smith told Sky Sports News afterwards: “It shouldn’t be happening. I don’t know how Ant’s played on to be honest and come up with those goals. It’s totally unacceptable.

“Something needs to be done. Taking the knee isn’t having an effect. We’re supporting him and hopefully he’ll be OK.

“I wanted him to react because that’s what I would have done, but this shows what type of man he is…to come up with those goals showed the type of guy he is.

“To be fair the Liverpool players were very supportive as well towards Antoine and the rest of the team. It was handled in the right way but… so angry.

“I don’t know what else we can do. No one’s getting it. I don’t know what to say anymore. I just feel for Ant… shocking.”

The Premier League said in a statement that its “on-field anti-discrimination protocol” had been followed and the incident “will now be fully investigated”.

“We offer our full support to the player and both clubs,” it added. “Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society. We will continue to work with stakeholders and authorities to ensure our stadiums are an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.”

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The Football Association said it was “concerned” about the allegation of racism towards Semenyo and that it would ensure “appropriate action” would be taken.

The incident comes two days after Tottenham Hotspur player Mathys Tel faced racist abuse online following a missed penalty in his team’s UEFA Super Cup victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

The mother of a man shot dead by attackers on electric bikes three years ago has appealed for help finding his killers.

Sam Rimmer was shot in the back on 16 August 2022 when the bikes rode into Lavrock Bank in Liverpool and fired at him and his friends.

The 22-year-old was injured and died a short while later in hospital. Ten people have been arrested since then but no charges have followed.

Sam’s mum, Joanne, said the last three years have been “agonising” and “the passing of time has not eased the pain”.

“People say to cherish the memories, but when I think of Sam, the memory I have is of his body in the morgue, staring at his chest, willing him to breathe. No parent should ever have to identify their child’s body,” she said.

Joanne pleaded: “If you know something and you are reading this, please, please speak up.

“No one will ever know as it will be completely anonymous. Sam was shot in his back. He was turned away from his killers. This image haunts me. In his final moments, was he scared? Was he in pain?”

She added: “I died the day Sam did. I function but I do not live.”

Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath, from Merseyside Police, said they “just need the final piece of the puzzle”.

“We know that there are people out there who live in the Dingle/Toxteth area who know who is responsible and my appeal is for those people to come forward and tell us what they know,” he urged.

“Do you know who was riding on the bikes that arrived in Lavrock Bank that night? Do you know where they went afterwards or where they are being stored?”

He said any information would be handled carefully and “extensive measures” put in place to protect anyone who comes forward.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the area at the time, or has any other information is urged to contact Merseyside Police on their public portal.

They can also be reached on @MerPolCC on X, or information can be left anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Thousands more Afghan nationals may have been affected by another data breach, the government has said.

Up to 3,700 Afghans brought to the UK between January and March 2024 have potentially been impacted as names, passport details and information from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy has been compromised again, this time by a breach on a third party supplier used by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

This was not an attack directly on the government but a cyber security incident on a sub-contractor named Inflite – The Jet Centre – an MoD supplier that provides ground handling services for flights at London Stansted Airport.

The flights were used to bring Afghans to the UK, travel to routine military exercises, and official engagements. It was also used to fly British troops and government officials.

Those involved were informed of it on Friday afternoon by the MoD, marking the second time information about Afghan nationals relocated to the UK has been compromised.

It is understood former Tory ministers are also affected by the hack.

Earlier this year, it emerged that almost 7,000 Afghan nationals would have to be relocated to the UK following a massive data breach by the British military that successive governments tried to keep secret with a super-injunction.

Defence Secretary John Healey offered a “sincere apology” for the first data breach in a statement to the House of Commons, saying he was “deeply concerned about the lack of transparency” around the data breach, adding: “No government wishes to withhold information from the British public, from parliamentarians or the press in this manner.”

The previous Conservative government set up a secret scheme in 2023 to relocate Afghan nationals impacted by the data breach, but who were not eligible for an existing programme to relocate and help people who had worked for the British government in Afghanistan.

The mistake exposed personal details of close to 20,000 individuals, endangering them and their families, with as many as 100,000 people impacted in total.

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A government spokesperson said of Friday’s latest breach: “We were recently notified that a third-party sub-contractor to a supplier experienced a cyber security incident involving unauthorised access to a small number of its emails that contained basic personal information.

“We take data security extremely seriously and are going above and beyond our legal duties in informing all potentially affected individuals. The incident has not posed any threat to individuals’ safety, nor compromised any government systems.”

In a statement, Inflite – The Jet Centre confirmed the “data security incident” involving “unauthorised access to a limited number of company emails”.

“We have reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office and have been actively working with the relevant UK cyber authorities, including the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre, to support our investigation and response,” it said.

“We believe the scope of the incident was limited to email accounts only, however, as a precautionary measure, we have contacted our key stakeholders whose data may have been affected during the period of January to March 2024.”