Fulham Football Club have launched an investigation after Republic of Ireland international Cyrus Christie claimed his sister was racially abused and was hit at their Championship opener against Barnsley.
The incident is alleged to have taken place during the league meeting at Oakwell, which ended in defeat for the London club - losing 1-0.
In a statement on their website, the club said:
"Fulham Football Club is investigating an incident that occurred in the away end of the Barnsley vs Fulham game on Saturday 3rd August.
Should the perpetrators be identified, we will be taking the strongest possible action."
The 26-year-old Republic of Ireland international moved to Craven Cottage from Middlesborough in January 2018 for an undisclosed fee. He helped the side win promotion to the Premier League, via the playoffs, and went onto make 23 appearances for the Cottagers in the top flight of English football before being relegated at the end of last season.
After the loss to Barnsley, Christie took to Twitter and said, "To the Fulham fan that decided to hit my sister at the game today and his wife who justified his action with racist remarks I hope your proud of yourself and feel like a big man. You’ll get what’s coming to you. Regardless how you felt about the result your actions are shameful."
To the Fulham fan that decided to hit my sister at the game today and his wife who justified his action with racist remarks I hope your proud of yourself and feel like a big man. You’ll get what’s coming to you. Regardless how you felt about the result your actions are shameful
— Cyrus Christie (@cyruschristie) August 3, 2019
Scott Parker got the managerial post at Craven Cottage on a permanent basis during the summer. Speaking about the loss in the aftermath of the game, the former England international said to Sky Sports, "we started okay in the first 10 minutes of the first half, but Barnsley got a grip of the game and caused us a few problems.
"We anticipated how fast it would be out of the blocks - they're obviously a very strong side here at home. In the second half, we got into the game and we had chances which they defended heroically at times but overall it's very disappointing."
