Matt Scrafton's verdict on Burnley's 2-0 defeat to Arsenal
A figure at Preston North End has labelled the wait for a verdict in Milutin Osmajic’s case as a “farce”.
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The Montenegro international is accused of racially abusing Burnley midfielder Hannibal during the goalless draw between the two sides at Deepdale in February.
Speaking on social media after the game, Hannibal said “he will not be silent” and promised to “always call out racism” whenever he heard it. Osmajic, meanwhile, “strongly refutes” the claims.
An FA hearing was held in late September and, speaking in mid-October, Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom revealed he was expecting a decision to be made by the end of the month, or the start of November. But still no official word has been handed down.
Providing an update to our sister paper, the Lancashire Evening Post, PNE assistant Stuart McCall said: “Listen, for me it's a complete farce. An absolute, complete farce.
“What's going on? It's not fair on the lad. People think it's hard for us, can you imagine the lad?
Osmajic was charged by FA in relation to the incident back in March (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)placeholder image
Osmajic was charged by FA in relation to the incident back in March (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“He's just hanging about and hanging about, on something which I feel really strongly about. In my opinion, it's ridiculous it's gone on this long.
“Although he doesn't show it – comes in with a smile on his face, trains as well as he can – it must be playing on his mind. It's only natural when something's been hanging over you for so long.
“We'll see whenever the outcome is made and whatever comes of it, but I've been really, really disappointed in the process, I've got to say.”
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What did PNE boss Heckingbottom previously say?
“It could’ve – should’ve – been dealt with a long time ago,” Heckingbottom said at the start of October.
“The topic's important, it means a lot to a lot of people and rightly so, but also we've got two lads' careers and they're trying to get on with it. Regardless of what happens we'll never, ever know.
“There's probably not even two people that know what happened; there's one person that knows, regardless of what happens with it. So yeah, we would’ve loved for it to have been sorted one way or another and move on, but it's not [been]. Hopefully, we'll get to the bottom of it soon.
“He’s not fine because it's not nice, is it? Like I said, regardless of what happens – and this is the strange thing – it's not a court of law, it’s not. So, it's not on evidence. There'll only ever be one person who knows what's actually happened because we've not got any absolutes.
“So, that's the unique thing when it's FA hearings. But it's an important topic that needs dealing with. Like I said, we've got to respect that and abide by it. We have, as a club, been very, very good in this and not shied away from any of it, but we just want a conclusion to it now.”
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