Arrest over alleged racist gesture at Liverpool-Man Utd tie Published duration 29 January 2012

image caption It was the first meeting of the teams since the racist incident between Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez

A man has been arrested after an alleged racist gesture was made by a fan at the FA Cup tie between Liverpool and Manchester United on Saturday.

Merseyside Police said a 59-year-old from Barmouth in Gwynedd was arrested during the evening.

Officers had reviewed TV footage of the match after images were posted on Twitter of a man making an alleged racist gesture.

Saturday's game at Anfield ended with Liverpool winning 2-1.

'Genuine fans'

On Saturday night a police spokeswoman said: "The man has been taken to a police station and will be questioned by officers.

"Merseyside Police would like to thank North Wales Police and Liverpool Football Club for their assistance with this matter."

Earlier Ch Supt Jon Ward said: "We take all forms of offensive behaviour seriously, and we will always thoroughly investigate such claims.

"We cannot allow this type of behaviour to affect the enjoyment of genuine fans.

"We will continue with our efforts to deal with the small number of individuals who commit offences at football matches, in particular, with the continued use of football-banning orders."

Supporters warned

Tensions were high at the match as it was the first time the teams had met since the racist incident between Manchester United's French defender Patrice Evra and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez during their league encounter last year.

The incident led to Uruguayan Suarez being banned for eight games by the FA, who found him guilty of making racist slurs against Evra.

Before Saturday's match, the stadium announcer warned supporters that racist and homophobic behaviour would not be tolerated.

Police said 17 people were ejected from the ground during the game, adding that two people were arrested for "low-level incidents".

But the force said the majority of fans were well behaved.