Police Scotland arrest two over Kyogo Furuhashi abuse
Police Scotland have arrested two men for alleged hate crimes after racist abuse was directed towards Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi on social media.
Rangers have issued indefinite bans to supporters identified in a video that showed fans chanting a racist song about the Japan international.
The footage circulated on social media last Sunday when Rangers were in Dingwall playing Ross County.
A statement from the force read: “Police Scotland has arrested and charged two men in connection with an alleged hate crime directed towards a Celtic Football Club player following reports of a video circulating online that officers were made aware of on Monday, 23 August, 2021.
“The men, one aged 30 and one aged 26, have been released on an undertaking and are due to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court at a later date. A full report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”
Celtic condemned the abuse as “disgusting” while Furuhashi, who arrived at Parkhead from Japanese club Vissel Kobe this summer, posted a tweet on Monday which read “I’ll never walk alone”, in the wake of the incident.
Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou has said Furuhashi is okay despite being targeted with racism and remains in his plans for the Old Firm derby on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
“Kyogo is good, he’s a very positive young man and he understands that this kind of behaviour directed towards him is a kind of thing that a lot of people have to deal with.
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“He’s not going to let that tarnish his whole experience here because if you speak to him I’m sure he’d say that he’s loving every bit of being part of this football club and living in this country.”
Former Celtic forward Scott McDonald says new signing Kyogo Furuhashi has been the catalyst for Celtic’s improvement under Ange Postecoglou
The 26-year-old scored a hat-trick on his debut against Dundee and has found the net six times in seven games at the start of his career in Scottish football.