Hoops boss slams disgusting racist abuse of 16-year-old star

Stephen Bradley was rightly incensed.

Ahead of tomorrow's LOI game against St Pat's, Hoops boss Stephen Bradley slammed the racist abuse aimed at his 16-year-old star, Victor Ozhianvuna.

The youngster has represented Ireland at Under-15s and Under-17s level, and made his senior debut earlier this year.

Bradley called for the guards to have a bigger involvement in such issues and praised Waterford for their handling of the situation.

He said: "He’s a 16-year-old kid, he was really, really upset in the dressing room afterwards,” Bradley said today, speaking ahead of the Hoops’ game at home to local rivals St Patrick’s Athletic on Monday, stressing that that the teenager will have support in-house.

“We are lucky here that we work with Mary [Larkin, club sports psychologist] quite regularly, and we can help. But we can’t undo what’s been said and what he’s heard. That’s the scary part.

"But us as a club will do everything possible to try to deal with the emotions he is feeling after hearing that, and give him the tools to try to deal with it himself better, if it ever happens again, please God it doesn’t. It’s incredible that someone feels they can speak like that.

"It was extremely difficult for him. In the dressing room afterwards he was really upset, Victor. I still find it amazing that people think it’s acceptable to speak like that in this day and age.

"We’ve had incidents in the past, obviously my own in Cork, Pico [Lopes] had a problem not so long ago as well, where is society when people think it’s acceptable to speak like that and behave like that and act like that? I can’t get my head around it.

“For a 16-year-old to hear that is sickening. Waterford, to be fair to them, were good in how they acted after the game. I know the League was straight onto the guards as well. But I think you look at the wider issue as a society, I think we need to be stronger in terms of people around that, that heard him. They need to be the ones to call it out and check it.

"It’s sickening that people feel that once they get into a stadium they have a right to speak like that. I can’t get my head around it. It needs to be stopped, it needs to be stamped out. And I think all of us have our part to play in that. But it’s scary that people walk into a stadium and just feel they have the freedom to speak like that.

“You can’t blame Waterford. Waterford can’t control what some person says inside the ground, you can’t control that. They can act now, which they are [doing], which is great.

“But I think it’s got to go further, I think the guards have to be involved. That's the only way I feel we will really try and make an impact on these people.

"We can’t just look at it and think, oh well, it’s happened at a game or it happened at a stadium, so Waterford will deal with it. Waterford, I’m sure, will ban that person, or persons. But the guards, I think, are definitely the way to go. Racially abusing someone is not acceptable. I think the guards need to be involved to help the clubs to be really strong on this."