Renee Hector accuses opponent of 'monkey noise' abuse

Renee Hector took to Twitter to insist she had been racially abused by an opponent making "monkey noises" while playing for Tottenham Hotspur Ladies in an English second division women's match. The alleged incident took place during Spurs' 2-1 win away to Sheffield United in the FA Women's Championship, the division below the elite Women's Super League. But a result that saw the visitors climb to second place in the table was overshadowed by defender Hector's post-match allegation.

Hector, who did not name the player in question, tweeted: "Such a shame that racism seems to be rising up again in football -- I received some monkey noises today from an opposition player. "The only reaction was to let the football do the talking and that we did great start to the year! @ThlfcOfficial #COYSL #SHEvTOT #KickItOut." Recent events of racist abuse in English football have largely been a matter of supporters turning on non-white male players, although Luis Suarez, then of Liverpool, was given an eight-game ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra during a match in 2011.

In December, Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, speaking after alleged racist abuse by a Chelsea fan at Stamford Bridge, said the media needed to examine the way it reported stories about certain black players. Last month also saw a Tottenham fan fined and given a four-year football banning order by a court for throwing a banana skin at Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during Spurs' 4-2 defeat in a north London derby at the Gunners' Emirates Stadium. 

(With inputs from agencies.)