Liverpool FC to 'take action' against fan who posted picture of two Muslim men praying at Anfield during half-time and labelled it '#disgrace'

Liverpool FC to 'take action' against fan who posted picture of two Muslim men praying at Anfield during half-time and labelled it '#disgrace'

Stephen Dodd caused outrage when he posted a photograph online showing solicitors Asif Bodi and Abubakar Bhula worshipping during half-time at a game. Now club authorities say they will 'take appropriate action' against the supporter, which could include banning him from matches.

iverpool FC to 'take action' against fan who posted picture of two Muslim men praying at Anfield during half-time and labelled it a 'disgrace'

• Stephen Dodd photographed Asif Bodi and Abubakar Bhula praying during half-time at Anfield last month
• He captioned the image: 'Muslims praying at half time #DISGRACE'
• Liverpool FC now say they will take action against Dodd over the post
• But Mr Bodi says he doesn't want to see Dodd banned from the ground

By Hugo Gye for MailOnline

15:16 GMT, 15 April 2015 | Updated: 19:00 GMT, 15 April 2015

Liverpool FC is set to take action against a fan who said that two Muslim men praying at the club's stadium were a 'disgrace'.

Stephen Dodd caused outrage when he posted a photograph online showing solicitors Asif Bodi and Abubakar Bhula worshipping during half-time of a FA Cup game.

Now club authorities say they will 'take appropriate action' against the supporter, which could include banning him from matches.

However, the Muslim fans featured in the picture are adamant that Dodd should not be shut out by the club, saying it would be an 'overreaction' to ban him.

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Fury: Stephen Dodd took this photograph of Asif Bodi and Abubakar Bhula praying at Anfield last month

Dodd took a photograph of the two men during a match against Blackburn Rovers last month, with the caption: 'Muslims praying at half time at the match yesterday #DISGRACE.'

After facing a huge online backlash he continued to defend himself - saying that he had the right to criticise the men because he is a long-standing Liverpool supporter.

Police investigated the incident after receiving complaints from furious web users, but have now passed on the case to the club to investigate.

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Liverpool FC said in a statement: 'Last month, Liverpool Football Club received complaints of a tweet showing an image of Muslim fans praying during half-time at Anfield accompanied by comments that were offensive to the complainants.

'The club reported the tweet, which was posted online on Sunday, March 8, 2015, to Merseyside Police.

'Merseyside Police investigated the matter and has referred this to LFC to take appropriate action against the individual involved. The club is currently in the process of determining the appropriate action to take and a further update statement will be made in due course.

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Backlash: Dodd tried to defend himself by saying that he was a long-standing fan of Liverpool

CALLS FOR PRAYER ROOMS AT FOOTBALL STADIUMS

Campaigners have called for football clubs to install prayer rooms so Muslim fans can pray in peace and avoid the possibility of anti-Islamic abuse.

Fiyaz Mughal, who runs Islamophobia hotline Tell MAMA, suggested that stadiums should have a 'multi-faith prayer room' in their stadiums.

He told MailOnline: 'We are aware of incidents where practising Muslims have been abused since they have decided to quietly pray in public areas during half-time breaks.

'Given that people want to peacefully pray, we would suggest that clubs consider making a prayer room available for those fans who want to do so.

'The prayer room just has to be a space that is clean and where people can spend about 10 minutes praying and which is available through the match.

'It also can be listed as a multi-faith prayer room so that other faiths who want to use it, can do so.'

Currently both Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers have prayer rooms at their stadiums for the use of fans.

The rooms are non-demoninational and can be used by fans of any religion, but are more likely to be used by Muslims because they must pray at fixed times during the day.

Newcastle United has also built a prayer room at its training ground because there are a number of Muslim footballers playing at the club. 

'Liverpool Football Club would like to remind its supporters that it does not tolerate any form of discrimination and is committed to ensuring that the club and Anfield provides a welcoming and safe environment for all fans regardless of race, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.'

Mr Bodi, 46, told MailOnline that neither he nor Mr Bhula had complained about Dodd's tweet, and said that he should be sent on an awareness course rather than being banned by Liverpool.

'I don't want to see him banned because I think that would be an overreaction,' he said.

'Neither of us has been approached either by the club or by the police, we haven't made any complaint.

'I wouldn't like to see a fellow supporter banned from the ground - I do defend his right to express an opinion.'

The lawyer from Preston, whose eight-year-old son Ayman can also be seen in Dodd's photo, earlier told the Liverpool Echo: 'My little boy said at the time, "Someone is taking a picture of us," and I thought maybe it was someone who hadn't seen prayers before.

'I certainly didn't expect to be called a disgrace for doing it. But the support since has been very nice and I'm thankful.'

He added: 'We have a small window in which to pray, a bit like the transfer window in football. Once that closes the chance has gone.

'That day, the time came for prayer and the window would have closed before the game finished so we did it at half-time.

'Most people are absolutely fine with it and the stewards at Anfield are wonderful, but it only takes one or two people to react in the wrong way and you could have a nasty situation.'

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Match: The incident took place when Liverpool were playing Blackburn Rovers at Anfield in March

Mr Bhula, 37, who has known Mr Bodi since childhood, offered to meet with Dodd to explain the importance of prayers in Islam.

He said: 'We've had a lot of nice comments since and I appreciate that. We weren't harming anybody.

'Education is key to stopping things like this from happening. Maybe the man who took the photo has not come across Muslims before who have explained the significance of prayer.

'I would be quite happy to meet with him to explain why we pray and when it needs to be done.'

In 2013, a group of West Ham supporters were abused by onlooking fans because they were praying behind the main stand at Upton Park during a match.

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