Liverpool apologize after opposing player abused by supporters in FA Cup tie

English football club Liverpool apologized Sunday after an opposing team’s player complained of being abused by supporters.

Oldham’s on-loan defender Tom Adeyemi was visibly upset after an incident during Friday’s FA Cup third-round tie at Liverpool’s Anfield ground.

A statement on the club’s website read: “Whatever the outcome of what is now a police investigation, all of us are deeply sorry for what happened on Friday night and players and our club pass on our sincere regrets to Tom Adeyemi for the upset and distress he suffered as a result of the matter at hand.”

Merseyside police arrested a 20-year-old man from Aintree on “suspicion of a racially-aggravated public order offense” and he was bailed Sunday.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was last month banned for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, and his club made a big show of publicly defending the Uruguay international before finally accepting the punishment earlier this week.

Chelsea and England captain John Terry has been charged by police for allegedly racially abusing Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand, and will face a court case in February.

Before the arrest on Saturday, former Oldham player Reuben Hazell claimed on social networking website Twitter that it was a matter of racial abuse.

“After the game I went into the Oldham dressing room to catch up with my old mates and spoke to Tom Adeyemi directly about what the altercation with the fan was all about. He said he was racially abused by the fan. This is FACT,” wrote Hazell, who now plays for Shrewsbury in the fourth division, one below that which Oldham competes in.

Adeyemi, who has Nigerian ancestry, is on the books of his hometown team Norwich but the 20-year-old has yet to establish himself at the Premier League side.

His loan at Oldham is due to expire this month, and he spent last season with fourth division Bradford.

Oldham captain Dean Furman said Adeyemi’s treatment during the 5-1 defeat at Liverpool was unacceptable.

“He was abused and I’ll leave it to Tom and the police to investigate that,” Furman told BBC Radio Manchester.

“What happened should not happen in the game. It has been highlighted over the last few months and it is an absolute disgrace. “

In a separate development, a 21-year-old man was charged Saturday with racially abusing former Premier League star Stan Collymore on Twitter.

Collymore, 40, played for a number of top clubs, including Liverpool and now works as a broadcaster and football pundit. He also campaigns publicly against racism.

Northumbria Police said Joshua Cryer, of Jesmond, Newcastle, was charged with “a Section Five racial public order offense and a Section Five public order offense.”

He was bailed to appear before magistrates on Monday January 23.