it seems the name of Leeds is getting dragged through the mud again...

YOU'RE GOING DOWN WITH THE AFGHANS and that's the least offensive of Leeds fans' evil racist taunts at Leicester

LEEDS UNITED have been rocked by another race storm after fans hurled vile abuse at Leicester City players and supporters.

In the wake of the Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer affair, Leeds find themselves at the centre of another row after their 2,200 travelling fans sang "Town full of Pakis," "We hate Turks" - directed at City midfielder Muzzy Izzet - and "You're going down with the Afghans" as relegation-bound Leicester were beaten.

Leicester's crowd left Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale in no doubt about their own feelings at the end of Saturday's match, shouting: "Your fans are a disgrace."

And today furious Leicester chief John Elsom, planning to see Ridsdale when FA councillors meet on the eve of the England versus Italy game at Elland Road, wants a few answers from his Leeds counterpart.

He said: "We don't want racists in our stadium, and neither supporters nor players should have to put up with the kind of abuse we witnessed on Saturday.

"Racist behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated," warned Elsom, aware that Leicestershire constabulary are mounting a full-scale investigation.

Match commander Chief Inspector Mark Wilson said: "We will be looking at video footage, and if any culprits can be they will be arrested and put before the courts."

Last night Ridsdale issued a

statement claiming: "I totally endorse John Elsom's views. We will not tolerate racism of any kind, and we condemn anybody who chants racial abuse."

Bizarrely, Leeds revealed they had received an invitation only yesterday to be the guest opponents when Leicester open their £32m Freemen's Wharf ground at the beginning of August.

But a Leicester spokes-man hurriedly announced last night: "In the light of events, Leeds are no longer regarded as appropriate visitors. Their invitation is withdrawn."

John Williams, chairman of the local "Foxes Against Racism" body, added: "I shall be writing to Peter Ridsdale setting out our opinions on the matter." WHEN WILL RISDALE TACKLE RACIST SCUM AT HIS CLUB? By David Moore LEEDS UNITED were last night accused of failing to tackle racism at the club.

As Leicester reeled from the foul-mouthed chanting of the Yorkshire side's supporters at Filbert Street on Saturday, the Kick Racism Out Of Football campaign insisted chairman Peter Ridsdale must sharpen up his act.

Piara Powar, spokesman for the campaign, said: "We still don't know exactly where Leeds stand on this whole business.

"Chairman Peter Ridsdale seems to have spent the weekend insisting that Jonathan Woodgate's availability for international duty should depend purely on how well he is playing, and nothing else.

"If that doesn't send out a mixed message and confuse people over exactly where Leeds are coming from, then I don't know what does.

"I appreciate that Leeds have put in a lot of work like other clubs to counter the scourge of racism, but they still have a lot to do.

"Clearly, there remains a hard core of Leeds supporters who simply haven't got or refuse to accept the message that racism is evil.

"And they were obviously secure in the knowledge that there is safety in numbers, because there were no arrests - and quite frankly, in my opinion, little likelihood of anybody being apprehended."

Powar explained: "In our experience, unless you pull the offenders out of the crowd there and then, you are not going to catch up with them.

"As for Leeds, they need to redouble their efforts against racism. I know that Peter Ridsdale attached a personal message to all the Leeds tickets when they visited Leicester a couple of years ago, but that step has not had the desired effect."

Ridsdale protested last night: "As regards the Jonathan Woodgate situation, two judges, the prosecuting counsel and the investigating police force all agreed his offence was not a racist attack.

"Jonathan was subsequently punished, served his sentence and should now be free to pursue his normal work."

But Ridsdale must be deeply dismayed by the appalling conduct of United's hard-core fans at Leicester, following a year in which the court case involving Woodgate and Lee Bowyer dragged the Elland Road club through the mud.

The repercussions of that assault on Asian student Sarfraz Najeib simply refuses to go away - and Ridsdale now finds himself fighting with his back to the wall once more.

Chants of "Town full of Pakis", "You're going down with the Afghans", and "Turkish scum" - aimed at Leicester's Muzzy Izzet - were heard at Filbert Street.

It prompted Leicester chairman John Elsom to state: "We do not want racists in our stadium. Supporters and players should not have to put up with abuse of this nature, and such behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

"Comments from the Leeds fans were all the more disappointing following our own successful anti-racist campaign at the recent Charlton game, where hundreds of supporters from both sides showed their backing for our work on that subject."

There were suggestions from Leeds that Leicester chants sparked such a vicious response but that allegation was swiftly denied by Filbert Street spokesman Bob Walker, who said: "It's always the same with Leeds, and Everton are just as bad."

Chief Inspector Mark Wilson of Leicestershire Constabulary, said: "We take any allegations of racism extremely seriously, and will investigate fully.

"Stewards were unable to identify any offenders to the police, which meant there were no arrests on the day. But we are mounting a full investigation, and will be studying video footage."

THE WORDS OF CHAIRMAN PETER

May 2001, backing Leeds' anti-racism policy: "The club is deeply committed to ridding football of racism. There are a small minority of fans spoiling the fun for a majority but we are determined to weed out the few who bring shame on Leeds United. Leeds United welcomes players and fans of all creeds and colour."

December 2001, speaking after the end of Jon Woodgate and Lee Bowyer's trial: "There is no hint of racism within Leeds United football club. Everyone recognizes that until the result today, Leeds United were in a very difficult position. The club was not on trial, some of its players were. Any pronouncements we made could have been misunderstood."

December 2001, discussing racism in society: "We would not condone any company in any society that didn't believe that equal opportunities was the right and proper thing to do. It's one thing having a policy and the second thing is to make sure it's working. So every so often what you need to do is audit."

January 2002, on his club's treatment during the trial: "Our investment in terms of the community programme in bringing education into inner city areas, our commitment to be at the forefront of the campaign to keep racism out of football, all of that work is outstanding. But nobody wants to hear about the good news. It has been a test of resolve, but we will come out stronger for it."

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

Answers

ap

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

"You're going down with the Afghans" made me laugh, actually.

'Town full of Pakis' was heard not that long ago from NUFC fans at Filbert Street, so they're not alone in that sin.

Does Galatasaray have similar condemnations of their abusive and violent fans?

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

I had my eyes (and ears!) opened on Saturday...i thought our lot had calmed down in recent years but the stream of absolute racist shite pouring out of the mouths of the 3 lads 2 rows in front of me was scary.....DSS's wife was standing next to me and she was pretty shocked as well....the worst bit was that there was an old fella and his two young kids directly behind them who had to listen to it for the entire match....

I was ashamed....

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

If you hear it then confront them or tell the stewards, unless WE are prepared to do something about it then nowt will change.. I am proud to say I have reduced the racists season ticket holders numbers by 1 over the last two seasons..

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

I had made a conscious decision to point them out to the stewards if they persisted in the second half.....two of them had left (along with half the geordies who went!) and the one who remained was quiet without his backup...

I'm no angel myself and quite like to give and take a bit of footie banter but there crap was just hate....

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

"Down with the Afghans" - well I'm a bit surprised such a chant caught on at all. As far as I can see it's not clever (seems to me most Afghans were victors in the recent hostilities), and it's not funny - just sounds like a cringe-makingly embarrassing chant. Is it Racist? I don't know what race Afghans are - maybe they're Caucasian the same as us?

I abhor racism like most here and I applaud the efforts of people such as Kennyboy in having culprits removed. I can't quite see the above chant as being racist - perhaps ignorant and xenophobic - which I suppose isn't far from being racist. Certainly a sizeable section of Leeds fans appear to be mindless morons and you would think the decent Leeds fans - as well as the club - would make a better effort to rid this nonsense from their midst.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

....easier said than done Jonno, and I'm afraid this problem is certainly not the exclusive province of Leeds. This is a deep-seated societal problem, and regrettably the Toon has more than its fair share of racist morons within its following - as evidenced by several on here already.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

In my old seat there was a man who kept shouting abuse as coloured players for the other team, regardless of who they were. There's no point in repeating what he said, but he was reported and must have been given a final warning as he never did it again.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

I think supporters taking a more active role in rooting out those who shout racist abuse is key to ending it. Stewards don't seem to pay much attention unless someone brings a problem to their attention. And video evidence really isn't going to do much more than provide additional proof once the clubs have a name/seating location of a suspect. Can't imagine they'll spend the time reviewing all that footage trying to lip read otherwise.

Plus those engaging in the behaviour may take more of a hint if they feel more of a social stigma. It may not change the way they feel, but they can learn to either keep it to themselves or be told to go elsewhere.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

I've come across this sirt of stuff at a number of away games this season. One Toon "supporter" near me would constantly call "You f***ing b***k c**t" (and it wasn't against the Mackems!) when one of the opponents coloured (English) players got the ball. I gently reminded him that Little Kevin could fall into his exact same stereotype. He couldn't understand and his mates took him to one side to calm him down. Mind, part of his problem was not just his attitude but his alcohol level too.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

I've spoken to two Leeds fans recently who both insist the Leicester fans were singing some less than friendly songs about the Turkish stabbings.

I think it was "Always look out for Turks with knives" (to the tune of always look on the bright side of life)

Although it doesn't make the Leeds chants right in any way, you can't say they are totally to blame.

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2002