Racism row: Burnley players refuse handshake with Preston striker Osmajic 

Burnley players declined to shake hands with Preston striker Milutin Osmajic before their FA Cup fifth-round tie amid a racism row between the two clubs 

Osmajic was accused of racially abusing Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri when the Lancashire rivals met in the Championship on 15 February.

Montenegro forward Osmajic, who “strongly refuted” the allegations, was named in Preston’s starting XI for the tie on Saturday, while Hannibal was left out of the Burnley squad entirely.

During the pre-match handshakes at Deepdale, none of the Burnley players offered their hands to Osmajic, who was last in the line of Preston players filing along the Clarets XI.

After attempting to shake hands with a couple of Burnley players, Osmajic then walked along the rest of the line without interacting with the opposition.

Burnley manager Scott Parker said after the game that the decision not to shake hands with Osmajic was the players’ idea, but he was fully supportive of it.

Osmajic scored during the first half to put Preston two goals ahead in their eventual 3-0 victory, and celebrated by taunting the away fans with his hands cupped around his ears before being embraced by his team-mates.