Businessman banned from entering stadium for wearing PalestineT-shirt

LONDON, Sept. 25 (YPA) – Roger Wade, the founder of the company “Boxpark” and a regular fan of the Brighton and Hove Albion team, was banned from entering the club’s Stadium after he wore a T-shirt with the inscription Palestine.

Wade, who has held a season ticket for about ten years, said he was surprised by the club’s decision to ban him from attending the next five home matches, although the T-shirt did not bear any banned political or group slogans.

A video he posted on LinkedIn documented the moment he was led from his seat in the hospitality section without providing a clear explanation from the club officials.

The founder of the Boxpark’s company called the ban “blatant discrimination“, noting that football should be based on” inclusion, diversity and solidarity”, and not on silencing fans for wearing T-shirts expressing a humane attitude.

He added that the Premier League encouraged to stand up against racism, but asked: “what about standing up against the killing of fifty thousand civilians in Gaza, most of them women and children?”

Wade confirmed that he would file an official complaint, stressing that the case “is not about him alone but about what football represents to the fans”.

AA