Liverpool make apology to Tom Adeyemi over alleged abuse

Tom Adeyemi was comforted by Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt and referee Neil Swarbrick

Liverpool have apologised to Oldham's Tom Adeyemi after he suffered alleged racist abuse at Anfield.

A 20-year-old man from Aintree, Merseyside, has been bailed after he was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.

On-loan Norwich man Adeyemi was visibly upset duringhis team's 5-1 defeat.

"The players and club pass on our sincere regrets to Tom Adeyemi for the upset and distress he suffered," said a Liverpool statement.

"Our supporters are renowned throughout the world for their outstanding commitment, passion and fairness. They are drawn from nationalities across the globe with widely diverse backgrounds and heritages.

"The actions of any one individual do not represent our fans. Their stance on these issues is just as resolute as the club's.

"We have a very clearly stated public stance on discrimination and intolerance with dedicated staff that work hard daily on programmes in this important area.

"Regarding the incident that occurred on Friday evening, we have given Merseyside police every possible assistance we can and will continue to provide the necessary support to their investigation in order to ensure this particular incident is dealt with properly.

"We will continue to take the strongest possible action(s) against unacceptable behaviour during our matches."

Professional Footballers Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has spoken to Adeyemi about the incident, which caused Friday's match to be held up for several minutes.

"We can confirm that he was the victim of racist abuse towards the end of the Liverpool v Oldham FA Cup tie last Friday evening," said Taylor.

"This abuse came from a spectator sitting in the Kop section of the ground. Tom has given a full witness statement to the Merseyside police regarding the incident and will continue to assist the police fully in their enquiries."

The Premier League club have promised to ban from Anfield for life anyone found guilty of an offence related to the incident.

It has been a difficult few weeks for the Anfield club, who have seen striker Luis Suarez banned for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.