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NCAA women’s volleyball has fallen under a cloud of controversy over the weekend after Duke player Rachel Richardson said she was racially abused during a game against BYU in Utah. .
BYU officials did not react quickly enough to address the situation, Richardson said. was prohibited from entering.
On Tuesday, BYU officials said they were still investigating the suspected incident.BYU Police Lieutenant George Besendorfer said the initial review of footage from the crowd showed that Richardson was serving time. , said it did not appear to indicate that the banned person was shouting anything.
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“His behavior was not observed when we watched the video,” Besendorfter said via the Salt Lake Tribune.
BYU Associate Athletic Director John McBride added that multiple athletic staff members combed through all the footage the team had access to and found no evidence of racial slurs being shouted. .
“Various BYU Athletics employees are reviewing video from BYUtv and other cameras at a facility that volleyball teams have access to for film review. “What was banned was the person Duke identified as using racial slurs. But finding evidence that the person used the slurs at the match was banned,” McBride said in a statement. couldn’t.”
Richardson’s godmother, Letha Pamplin, claimed in a tweet that the volleyball player was called a racial slur “every time he served.” I was threatened and told to watch as I returned to the team bus.I had to bench a police officer,” he tweeted.
Someone left a threatening voicemail for a BYU coach on Sunday, according to a police report obtained by The Salt Lake Tribute. He later approached a Duke player and made him “uncomfortable.”
According to the newspaper, the police report said a fan “faced” the Duke player. Duke’s coaches and players identified the man as the one who allegedly yelled the N-word to Richardson from the Cougars’ student section, police said.
The man, identified as a Utah Valley University student, denied shouting racial slurs but admitted yelling at players that they “shouldn’t hit the ball into the net.” admitted approaching a Duke player, but claimed she thought she was a friend of his who played at BYU. Salt Lake Tribune.
The Duke volleyball player has publicly stated that he “failed to adequately” respond to racist slurs from BYU fans.
In the report, officers wrote that they had not seen anything in the film that led them to believe that the man who allegedly made the racist slur actually did so.
BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmo asked the students to provide information about the incident.
“As children of God, we have responsibilities,” Holmo said. “It is our mission to love each other and treat everyone with respect.
Richardson appeared on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” on Tuesday, claiming the abuse had escalated by the fourth set. Police said in a report that the man was not by the student section during the second set when Richardson’s family first said there had been racial slurs.
“Back on that side in the fourth set, it was as if the atmosphere in the student division had changed. Even the non-playing black teammates on the bench were getting called out,” it was pointed out. That’s when the racial slurs and heckling became more and more intense,” Richardson said Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, Besendorfer was asked if authorities had investigated the video further to see who was shouting the alleged slander. Besendorfer replied that the police were no longer looking at the footage.
Richardson is the only black starter on the volleyball team.
“We are against any form of racism, bigotry, or hatred. As a program, we have worked extensively to create an inclusive and safe environment where our student-athletes feel heard and supported. But I’m not naive to the fact that there’s always work to do.I did,” Duke Volleyball said in a statement Sunday.
“We will continue to empower student-athletes to use their voices to fight injustice of all kinds. I’ve made it clear that it doesn’t stop me from playing. They love me.”
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The match between Duke and BYU was part of the doTERRA Classic. Washington State University and Rider University also participated in the tournament. According to BYU, 5,507 people were in attendance for the Duke fight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.