DOVER Athletic have called on the football authorities to come down strong on anyone found guilty of racism.

The Whites’ players were subject to racist abuse at Victoria Park yesterday as they won 2-0 at Hartlepool United.

As they celebrated their opening goal, noises from the Town End were of a racist nature. It led to players from both clubs confronting supporters and the game was delayed for eight minutes.

The possibility of the game being abandoned with players leaving the pitch was spoken about.

A Dover statement, issued this afternoon, reads: “The Board, Management and Players of Dover Athletic FC stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder against Racism. Racism has no place in our society, full stop.

Dover Athletic FC promotes inclusivity and does not tolerate any form of discrimination.

This is not the first time that our players and staff have had to contend with racial abuse during a National League fixture.

The latest events at Hartlepool yesterday were inexcusable and we will support the authorities in any way we can to help bring the perpetrators to justice.

We will also be submitting our own reports to the National League and Football Association. We firmly believe that action needs to be taken – to demonstrate that the football family DO consider this type of intolerance to be completely unacceptable.

Incidents of this nature cannot be ignored, too often excuses are used to downplay such events and to even pass blame back to the victim – this cannot stand!

At Dover we are One Team and will support each other and in particular the players and staff affected by yesterday’s events, through this difficult time.

We are strong together and will continue to fly the flag for inclusivity and respect for all.’’