This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
On October 23, 2019, Liverpool fans unveiled a highly offensive banner of Divock Origi ahead of their Champions League match against Genk.
Origi, a 24-year-old striker, had previously played for Genk's youth team and was returning to the Belgian club for their group stage match.
Despite being named among the Liverpool substitutes, Origi was the target of a mocked-up naked banner depicting him with an abnormally large penis, next to the Champions League trophy.
The banner, which was seen as a racist stereotype, was quickly removed by Liverpool officials, who condemned the display as 'highly offensive and inappropriate.'
According to a Liverpool spokesperson, the club acted swiftly to have the banner removed and is now working with local authorities and the stadium team in Genk to identify those responsible.
The incident comes amid a series of high-profile racist incidents in football, including a recent match between Manchester United and Liverpool, where a supporter was issued an indefinite ban for racist abuse aimed at Trent Alexander-Arnold.
England's players were also subject to shocking abuse during their Euro 2020 qualifier with Belgium last week, and non-league Haringey Borough walked off the pitch during their FA Cup clash with Yeovil after their players were abused.
Speaking about racist incidents in football, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: 'It's disgusting, another example of something which absolutely should not happen. It's still only a few people doing it, but the stronger the reaction is from all of us, the more it will help to avoid things like this in the future.'
