A football fan has been jailed for six months after racially abusing TV pundit Rio Ferdinand at a Premier League game at Molineux.
Jamie Arnold, 33, was convicted of making racist gestures towards the former England defender during the Wolves v Manchester United fixture in May 2021.
The incident was investigated by West Midlands Police’s dedicated football hate crime officer, PC Stuart Ward, who said Arnold’s actions were “offensive and unacceptable”.
“There is no place for discrimination within football, and society in general, and Arnold has quite rightly lost his freedom,” PC Ward said.
Arnold was also given a seven-year football banning order, which prevents him from attending any football match anywhere in the UK.
He is the second fan to be jailed for racially abusing Ferdinand at Molineux in recent years. In 2021, Jamie Arnold was given a six-month jail sentence and a five-year football banning order for hurling racist abuse at the former Manchester United defender.
