Hong Kong-owned English Championship club Birmingham City reported a racist banner targeting their CEO to British police after fans protested against the owners ahead of their final game of the season against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. The Blues Collective supporters group hung several banners targeting Chinese chief executive Ren Xuandong in the Lancashire town ahead of their away game with one reported to authorities for being “undoubtedly racist”. Fellow fans were furious with the Blues Collective’s racist banner, which read “Som Ting Wong, It’s Called Dong”. Several supporters called out the supporters group on social media. Blues Collective tweeted in response to criticism. “Breaking news: 2nd banner is loved in Blackburn and not deemed racist in anyway .. by police,” they wrote on Saturday. “Buy hey only BCFC fans could find offence..while being treated like mugs by people they are aimed at.” The St Andrews club also issued a statement on Sunday condemning that banner and confirming that they had reported it to the police. Birmingham City women’s team question Hong Kong owners “It’s been brought to the club’s attention that a number of banners were placed around the town of Blackburn ahead of today’s final Sky Bet Championship fixture,” it read. “One of these banners was undoubtedly racist. This is unacceptable. “Whilst the club will defend and respect supporters’ right to protest and be heard, racism in any form, directed towards anyone, will not be tolerated. The Club have issued the following statement after being made aware of racist language being displayed on a banner in Blackburn. — Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) May 8, 2021 “In recent weeks the club has taken a particularly strong stance supporting the anti-racism movement in football. “Only last month, the club staged a seven day social media blackout to fight against abuse in the game. We then joined the rest of the Premier League and fellow EFL Clubs in a second boycott of social media platforms to reiterate our stance. “To be clear, there is no place for racism at Birmingham City Football Club. ‘More questions than answers’ over HK-owned Blues selling stadium “We believe that the overwhelming majority of our supporters will share our disgust at the messaging of the banner, and those responsible for it do not represent our fan base. “The police have been notified of the incident and the club will be offering our assistance to the authorities.” Fans staged an increasing number of protests against the ownership toward the end of this season, which finished with a 5-2 loss to Blackburn Rovers. Protests included a plane flying a banner over one recent match. Hong Kong-owned Blues battle drop 10 years on from Wembley win Ren has been the target of much of the fan frustration since the Hong Kong-based owners took over in late 2016. Their tenure has seen debts grow to more than £100m, the club regularly flirt with relegation amid a constant procession of managers. The future of the women’s team has also been questioned, while the club’s St Andrews home stadium needs urgent repair work. At the end of last season Ren was targeted with another racist banner, which included a poorly translated message written in Chinese characters.