Saturday’s match official was the victim of alleged sexist abuse

Grimsby Town have admonished supporters after sexist abuse was aimed at referee Kirsty Dowle during the 2-2 draw with MK Dons on Saturday.

The official came under fire from the home supporters at Blundell Park in the first-half in particular after awarding what Grimsby fans thought to be a soft penalty when Aaron Collins was downed, allowing Callum Paterson to fire in the opener.

The referees were met with a chorus of boos at half-time with Grimsby going in 2-0 down at the break.

The Mariners received reports of sexist abuse aimed at Dowle following Saturday’s game and have put out a statement.

It read: “We are aware of reports concerning alleged sexist comments directed towards the match official during Saturday’s home fixture.

“We are extremely disappointed to receive these reports and want to make it clear that the Club operates a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination in all its forms, including sexism, racism, homophobia, misogyny, disablism, abuse and harassment of any kind. Such behaviour is unacceptable, contrary to the values of both the club and the game, and will not be tolerated.

“The club takes all such allegations extremely seriously, and any individual identified as engaging in discriminatory or abusive language may face sanctions from the club, including removal from the stadium and a ban from future fixtures, in accordance with FA and league regulations.”