Birmingham’s Juninho Bacuna has alleged he was racially abused at West Brom as boss Tony Mowbray called for stronger punishments.
The midfielder raised an incident with the fourth official Tom Nield in injury time of the 1-0 defeat at The Hawthorns.
Bacuna was seen pointing at the crowd at full-time, having also spoken to referee David Webb, while West Midlands Police are expected to launch an investigation.
“You have to have a deterrent for the guy who’s had a few drinks, he comes to the match and there’s an opportunity in his mind to shout some racial abuse,” said Mowbray, after Andreas Weimann’s late winner for Albion. “He has to think: ‘Hang on a minute’.
“You make decisions and there has to be a consequence, he shouts this thing and he knows he might never watch football again in this stadium.
“The consequences have to be severe. You can’t just say ‘sorry mate.’ What drives someone to say those things?
“Bacca told me what he said, I don’t think it’s pertinent to share those things but it’s not very nice.
“That individual should feel the consequences of his actions. It’s right he brings it to the attention of the officials.
“Whose job is it to make the right decisions and what are the consequences? They have to be really harsh so people think twice about racially abusing people.”
It is the third incident of alleged racial abuse towards Bacuna since September 2022.
Then he was targeted online after being sent off for Curacao against Indonesia and in October – against Huddersfield at St Andrew’s – he was abused.
Saturday’s game improved after an instantly forgettable first half – where the teams cancelled each other out – and Alex Mowatt headed wide eight minutes after the re-start.
Brandon Thomas-Asante also fired over but Birmingham came close to an opener with 20 minutes left, Kevin Long’s flick from Andre Dozzell’s corner hitting the inside of the post.
It was an escape the Baggies capitalised on and, with five minutes left, Weimann’s fine close-range finish from Darnell Furlong’s cross won it for the hosts.
But another incident – following last week’s crowd trouble during the FA Cup defeat to rivals Wolves – marred the game.
“I cannot speculate what happened there but it is something I know – if there is an incident our club will always analyse,” said Baggies boss Carlos Corberan, who became a dad for the second time on Friday after the birth of son Dario.
“Because if there is any antagonistic behaviour, I know my club and my players are always against this type of situations.
“I am in a club that is very proactive to create more fair situations for anyone.
“If there was something connecting with racism, I know my players always take the knee and we are one of the clubs that has been making more things in favour to avoid any type of antagonising situations.
“I know the club will take a serious investigation if something has been damaging to people.”
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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