An allegation of racism by Liverpool has been rejected by Bundesliga club Hoffenheim, who believe a German slang word may have been misheard.
The Reds alleged racist language was used in a youth match against Hoffenheim last Friday and in a game in the same event against Eintracht Frankfurt the following day.
Hoffenheim said they took the accusation very seriously but “firmly reject its content”.
“There is no racist discrimination in the TSG (Hoffenheim) academy and never has been in the past,” a club statement read.
“We have many players of different ethnicities in our youth academy who compete with each other in sport. Differences of opinion can occur here and there, but there is definitely no racism among the TSG players.
“The accused player and surrounding team-mates have told us that the alleged statement was not made. The analysis of our video recording also revealed nothing.
“Nevertheless, we are carefully working through the incident with our team of psychologists and the child protection officer.
“One possible explanation for the origin of this accusation and the fact that it was repeated against Frankfurt could be the fact that the German slang word ‘Digga’ (roughly equivalent to ‘Bro’ in English) has a phonetic similarity to the swear word allegedly used.”
Hoffenheim said they would not name the accused player.
Frankfurt sporting director Timmo Hardung offered a similar explanation to German newspaper Bild, adding: “We have clear values that we live by and constantly demand. Racism has no place here, but we still take such an accusation seriously.”
Liverpool’s players left the field when the alleged abuse took place.
A club statement issued on Saturday read: “Liverpool FC can confirm that a member of our under-18s team reported he was racially abused by an opponent while playing in the Bundesliga Cup youth tournament at Schwabisch Hall in Germany on Friday.
“The player immediately alerted the match official, his team-mates, and our coaching staff. Consequently, LFC’s management team decided to stop the game and leave the pitch together.
“In a further incident, the same player was the target of abuse during a fixture in the tournament today. Again, the player alerted his team-mates and coaching staff and our management team opted to leave the pitch once more.
“We are proud of our player for his prompt actions in reporting the incident and the maturity of his response. He and any of his team-mates affected are being supported by the Academy safeguarding team.
“The club calls upon our opponents and the tournament organisers to conduct an urgent and thorough investigation into the incident.”
