Former Manchester United star Hannibal Mejbri has accused an opponent of making a racist comment during Preston and Burnley‘s 0-0 draw in the Championship.
The Clarets kept their 11th clean sheet in a row in the second division clash on Saturday afternoon, but failed to make up ground on their promotion rivals as they were held to their 14th draw of the season.
The game overall, however, was overshadowed by the incident between Mejbri and Preston’s Milutin Osmajic, who is a 25-year-old forward who joined the club in the summer of 2023.
Uncomfortable scenes saw the two players exchange words in the 56th minute of the game, with Mejbri facing away from Osmajic until reacting, seemingly to something that was said, and issuing a complaint.
Mejbri spoke to the referee, manager Scott Parker and other players, with the incident noted and a meeting held after the game.
Osmajic denies the claim, Preston have announced, but Mejbri took to social media to continue his accusation.
‘I will not be silent about what happened today,’ the midfielder began in a post on X. ‘I will always call out racism whenever I hear or see it.
‘That is the only way we change as a sport and a society. I am a strong person but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch.’
Osmajic ‘has strongly refuted the claims of a comment made towards Hannibal Mejbri in a post-match meeting with today’s match officials’, Preston have said.
They added: ‘Preston North End are aware of a complaint that has been made by Hannibal Mejbri and Burnley FC to today’s match officials with regards to an allegation of a comment made by Milutin Osmajić during today’s Sky Bet Championship fixture at Deepdale.
‘The club would like to thank the match officials for the way they have handled the issue and will assist with the investigation until a conclusion has been found. No further comment will be made at this time.’
Parker, meanwhile, told Sky Sports after the game: ‘I think something was said, I’m not going to go through the detail of what was said but something has been said to Hannibal and he has reported that and the officials have taken down what was reported.
He added: ‘The boy was hurt at that moment in time and he was emotional. There is no real understanding sometimes of situations. I get the emotion of games and sometimes you need to sit down and have a little think. At that moment everyone is heated, including fans, and I was just trying to say calm down.
‘The officials did a brilliant job in terms of what happened. It’s difficult in a stadium full of people and what took place, no one heard that. The officials went through a process and did well with that.’
Earlier this season, Osmajic was banned for eight games after biting Owen Beck’s neck in a game against Blackburn.
Osmajic received a yellow card, for dissent during the incident – Beck was sent off for kicking out – and Osmajic was later banned and fined £15,000.
Mejbri, meanwhile, joined Burnley in the summer and has gone onto make 27 appearances for Parker’s side.
He played 13 times for Manchester United, scoring once, having graduated their academy.
