Ballinamallard United players will wear 'No to Racism' t-shirts prior to their game against Cliftonville at Solitude on Saturday after club Chairman Jeff Aiken revealed that one of their players, believed to be goalkeeper Alvin Rouse, has suffered racial abuse on at least two occasions this season.

Aiken wrote to the Chairmen of all NIFL Premiership clubs to address the matter while Ballinamallard manager Whitey Anderson has said that officials must act when abuse is directed at players.

In his letter to the other Premiership Chairmen, Aiken commented: "I am obliged to contact you at this juncture as a result of my duty of care to one of our players regarding alleged racist comments which have been directed at him from off the pitch during at least two Premiership games so far this season."

Aiken went on to say that a referee's report from a recent game contained reference to an alleged racist comment by a supporter and "led the IFA to initiate disciplinary proceedings against a fellow club which led to a £1000 fine." Although Aiken does not name the club, it was Portadown who were fined following the game in August and their Chairman Roy McMahon has warned of a lifetime ban to anyone found guilty of racial abuse at a match.

Aiken continued by revealing that the player was also subject to racial abuse at another game this season although he says he is unaware if the incident was referenced in either the referee or match observer's report.

And he stressed that clubs cannot afford to allow incidents such as this to go unpunished and urged them "to be proactive in ensuring that our commitments to anti-racism and anti-sectariansim are not simply a paper exercise."

He continued:"We cannot afford it financially in terms of fines for breaches of the Disciplinaery Code, but more importantly we cannot afford the reputational damage to our clubs and the NIFL brand which we have worked so hard to promote and cultivate."

First team manager Whitey Anderson also feels that this is a key issue that needs to be tackled.

"It is important that we as a club not only back our player but also back the campaign as there is no place for racism in sport. This is something that has happened on a number of occasions in the past and complaints weren't made but they will be made from now on. There has certainly been a lot of lip service paid to this and I think that match officials, club officials and IFA delegates have been turning a deaf ear to it when it should be recorded and reported," said Anderson.