6 BLACK FOOTBALLERS ARE TOLD: 'PAY FOR UR MEAL BEFORE U EAT'

[Daanyeer]

Race row at Pizza Hut after six black footballers are told: 'Pay for your meal BEFORE you eat... because of the way you look'

By Daily Mail Reporter
6th December 2010


Pizza Hut blundered its way into a race row after six black footballers were told by staff they would have to pay for their food before eating - because of 'the way they look'.
The players from League One side Bournemouth popped in for a late lunch at a restaurant in the seaside Dorset town after training was cancelled due to snow.
The AFC Bournemouth squad members were asked to pay after ordering their £5.99 all-you-can-eat buffet meals but refused after noticing that a group of white youths who arrived after them had not been asked to do so.

It was at this point that the manager called the police who arrived and the players then left.

Today the restaurant chain apologised to the players who included first-team regulars Anton Robinson, Liam Feeney and Marvin Bartley.
Midfielder Robinson, 24, said: 'We ordered the food and the next thing the manager came up with the bill and said: "Would you mind paying first?"
'We asked if that was the policy and he said 'no'. When we asked why he had asked us, he said: "It's the way you look."
'We had a good idea what he was trying to get at. A group of white kids came in straight after us and they weren't asked to pay before they had their food.
'The only thing that was different was the colour of our skins.
'We told them we were professional footballers and were happy to pay when we had finished.
'That's what normal people do. He hadn't asked other customers to pay before their meals.
'It got a little bit heated then he said: "If you're not going to pay the bill now I'm going to call the police to escort you off the premises."'
Mr Robinson added: 'We are all grown men and we were smartly dressed.
'When the lads go out for a meal we know we are representing the club. We know that people in the town recognise us and we have to behave.
'We were angry but we kept our cool. The police arrived and spoke to customers who were eating around us and they said we were fine.
'We hadn't shouted, kicked up a fuss or anything.'
Teammate Liam Feeney, 23, said: 'I couldn't believe it. You don't really expect that sort of thing to happen any more.
'I could understand it if all young men had to pay before their meal.
'The fact that there were other groups of white lads younger than us who weren't asked to pay in advance didn't really leave anything else for it to be.'
A spokesman for Dorset Police confirmed officers attended the restaurant on Castle Lane West after receiving a complaint from Pizza Hut about disruptive customers.
He added: 'A group of men had been asked to leave. They weren't happy about this, but we spoke to them and they did leave.'
A spokesman for Pizza Hut said they had recently introduced a policy of asking certain customers to pay advance but this was up to the discretion of staff.
He said: 'We do not tolerate any form of discrimination, so immediately investigated this incident.
'While our duty manager's actions were absolutely not racially motivated, we are very sorry for the way this was handled.
'Police recently recommended that the restaurant started asking people to pay for their meal before dining, to combat a number of incidents where customers had left without paying.
'Unfortunately, it seems this approach was not enforced as a blanket policy and we have ensured all staff have been retrained.
'We will be contacting the customers concerned to apologise.'


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