Coventry and their manager, Mark Robins, condemned an alleged racist gesture aimed by a fan at the midfielder Kasey Palmer in the closing stages of the Sky Blues’ 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday. Doug King, City’s owner, said the club will support Palmer following the incident, while Robins urged the alleged perpetrator to “grow up”. The incident happened during a heated Championship fixture, which was settled by two goals from the captain, Ben Sheaf, as Coventry strengthened their bid for a playoff place. King said: “We completely condemn the abuse aimed at Kasey today and will support him following this incident. There is no place for this in football or society and we support Sheffield Wednesday and the authorities in taking the strongest possible action.” Robins said after the game: “Obviously there has been a ridiculous few people that have decided to do whatever they’ve done. They’ve made some racist remarks or comments and that should be dealt with. Hopefully they will get it on camera and they will deal with them. There’s just no place for it. It’s ridiculous in this day and age. Just grow up!” The player then took to X, formerly Twitter, to underline his anger at his treatment. “Disappointed to even have to come on here & write this. Racism is a disgrace … it has no place in the world, let alone football. I’m black and proud and I am raising my three kids to be the exact same. I’ll be honest, it feels like things will never change, no matter how hard we try,” he wrote. “Couple fans doing monkey chants don’t define a fan base – I appreciate all the love and support I’ve received.” Sheffield Wednesday also released a statement saying the club was “shocked and saddened” by the alleged incident. “We will work together with the relevant authorities and anyone proven to be culpable will face the strictest possible sanctions from both Sheffield Wednesday and the law,” it read. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with Coventry and the football world in stamping out this abhorrent and wholly unacceptable behaviour.” Wednesday’s chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, said: “We absolutely condemn the abuse reported by Kasey Palmer today and stand together with Coventry in our clear stance that there is no place in football or society for such appalling behaviour.” Danny Rohl, the Wednesday manager, said of the allegations: “Maybe there were some words. It is important that the club speak now with the referee and then make a statement so that we can say exactly what happens. This is important and we will do this as a club.”