Sacked football player wins race-bias fight against club

A black footballer was unfairly sacked after being racially victimised, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Former Barbados international player Mark McCammon, 33, took legal action against League Two side Gillingham after being dismissed for alleged misconduct last year.

The 6ft 2in striker told a hearing in Ashford, Kent, that he and other black players at the club were treated differently from white players.

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McCammon, who played for Doncaster Rovers from 2006 to 2008 before moving to Gillingham and also played four games on loan for Bradford City in 2010, said he was ordered to come into the ground amid “treacherous”, snowy driving conditions while some white players were told they were not required.

He also said the club tried to “frustrate him out” by refusing to pay private medical bills to help him regain his fitness after injury.

Instead, he claims he was offered the same operation on the NHS rather than privately, a move he described as “completely out of character” for a Football League club, and that he was fined two weeks’ wages when he paid a visit to a private consultant.

In contrast, he said a white team-mate was flown to Dubai for treatment by an eminent physiotherapist at the club’s expense.

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McCammon also claimed that he was told not to blog while others were permitted to.

Officials at Gillingham said they were “staggered” by the ruling, saying the club had employed thousands of staff of different races and religions.

The club said in a statement: “We are hugely disappointed, in fact staggered, by this decision. As an organisation we are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against, nor victimise our staff.

“Given the nature of the case, and the findings, we will discuss the judgment with our lawyers and decide upon the next course of action, whether that be an appeal against the findings, or another form of action.”

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McCammon told the tribunal that he had been put “through hell” at Gillingham and had not been given an answer over why he was treated differently to other players.

Dubai-based Gillingham chairman Paul Scally described McCammon’s claims as being made “maliciously and without foundation”, adding that the club had not had to deal with an allegation of racism in 18 years.

McCammon said that during an injury spell, he had to stay behind at the club for four hours longer than the other injured and non-injured players. “Once the players had all left, I sat there watching mind-numbing daytime TV and Britain’s Got Talent,” he said.

The forward said that after leaving the club, Gillingham “were effectively campaigning covertly against me” by trying to sabotage his career. He signed for Gillingham in 2008 on £2,500 a week and was the club’s highest-paid player.

McCammon said he was “relieved” at the judgment and hoped it would lead other players to raise “legitimate complaints” of discrimination.