LONDON — A 21-year-old man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of assault after Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was attacked by a Leeds fan during Friday's stormy 1-1 draw at Hillsborough. With the game shown live on television, the thug who shoved Kirkland in the face had been quickly identified on social media sites with hundreds of fans joining in the condemnation. Kirkland had just been beaten by a superb 77th-minute equalizer from Michael Tonge in Friday's English Championship clash when Leeds supporters spilled onto the pitch in over-zealous celebration of the goal. One of those fans ran up to Kirkland and, pushing both hands into his face, sent the stunned former Liverpool and England star crashing to the turf. PFA backs Ferdinand Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand's decision to protest against the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign has been backed by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA). Ferdinand, whose brother Anton was racially abused by Chelsea captain John Terry last year, did not wear a Kick It Out campaign T-shirt in the pre-match warm-up before United's 4-2 win over Stoke Saturday, despite boss Sir Alex Ferguson saying Friday that all his players would support the equality group. Ferguson has hinted he will punish Ferdinand for his actions, describing the incident as “embarrassing” and promising to “deal with it”. However, several other players around the country Saturday also snubbed the T-shirt in protest at Kick It Out's failure to demand harsher punishment for racist incidents. — Agencies
