Rising young Newcastle United star sees England match halted for 50 minutes in racism row | OneFootball

Very disappointing news as an England youth match was halted twice, after England players informed the match officials of on-pitch racist comments.

The England Under 17s are playing in a tournament in Germany and this particular match was against Venezuela on Wednesday.

When the two incidents of racist abuse were reported during the second half, the match was stopped for around an hour in total, including for 50 minutes when it happened the second time.

The match officials in Duisburg followed the established protocol regarding incidents of racism and if a third incident had been reported by the England players, it would have led to the game being abandoned under the protocols.

As it happened, justice was done on the pitch, as the England Under 17s came back from a goal down to beat Venezuela 2-1.

The football authorities now in discussions as to how these reported incidents of racist abuse should be followed up.

Playing the full game was exciting young England and Newcastle United midfielder Sam Alabi. Newcastle picked up the young talent from Oldham Athletic as a 14 year old two years ago and in June it was announced he’d agreed a first-year scholarship with NUFC, now aged 16.

Quite shocking that in this day and age, the young England teammates having been subjected to this kind of nonsense

Newcastle United also had two other players in yesterday’s England Under 17s matchday squad, both of them goalkeepers! George Mair played the full match, whilst Roman Dowell was an unused sub against Venezuela.

Official report from The FA site on Under 17s match played in Germany : England  2 Venezuela 1:

‘In a match overshadowed by reports of racism, England men’s under-17s began their 2025-26 campaign with a 2-1 win against Venezuela in Germany.

The game was halted twice, with a lengthy delay in the second half as the referee dealt with the incidents.

An FA spokesperson said: “We are aware of disturbing reports of racism towards England players at our MU17 match against Venezuela played in Germany today.

“This is being treated with the utmost seriousness and our priority is to support our players and staff.

“We are in ongoing discussions with tournament organisers and the relevant authorities about next steps.”

The Young Lions had to come from behind, as the South Americans took a first-half lead before Brian Madjo levelled things up with a first-time finish.

Venezuela saw a goal disallowed before Ryan Kavuma-McQueen fired England into the lead, closing down the opposition goalkeeper before finding the back of the net.

It was the first game of three in Duisburg for Liam Bramley’s side. The Young Lions are preparing for next month’s UEFA U17 EURO qualifiers in Lithuania.

England: 1 George Mair (Newcastle United), 2 Josiah King (Arsenal), 3 Liam Balmer (Liverpool), 4 Malik Olayiwola (Everton), 5 Reuben Gokah (Everton), 6 Marlow Barrett (Manchester City), 7 Ryan Kavuma-McQueen (Chelsea), 8 Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli (Chelsea), 10 Sam Alabi (Newcastle United) (c), 11 Ajay Tavares (Norwich City), 19 Brian Madjo (FC Metz)

Substitutes: 12 Oscar Sandiford (Tottenham Hotspur) for King 60’, 14 Mathis Eboue (Chelsea) for Tavares 60’, 15 Floyd Samba (Manchester City) for Balmer 60’, 20 Hugo De Lisle (Leicester City) for Kavuma-McQueen 60’, 17 Archie Thornton (Manchester City) for Gokah 78’, 18 Erik Farkas (Liverpool) for Olayiwola 78’, 21 Fraser Widdop (Brighton & Hove Albion) for Nicoll-Jazuli 85’