THE investigation into the racial abuse of Petero Civoniceva by a spectator at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday was moving closer to finding the culprit last night, but Penrith officials were dismayed he was allowed to leave the ground without being interviewed by police in the first place.

Penrith training staff, who were nearby on the sideline when the incident occurred during the game against Parramatta, said yesterday they had pointed out the spectator to security.

"I went to get Trent [Waterhouse] off the field so Petero could go back on," trainer Matt Adamson told the Herald. "I turned around and I saw Petero at the fence. I knew something was going on. Carl [Jennings, another Penrith trainer] had to calm him down a bit. Carl called the security guys over and pointed out the guy who said it to Petero and the guy he was sitting with, as well. He'd been sledging Petero during the game, too.

"The security guys went and talked to them, but they came back and said the blokes had denied saying anything. I told them that was a disgrace - a humble bloke like Petero is not going to lie about something like that. They said they got their names, but nothing happened after that. They were a couple of blokes in their late 30s, drinking beers."

Penrith chief executive Mick Leary, a former detective sergeant in the NSW police force, said police who were on duty at the ground should have been called in on the matter by security.

"The situation was that a serious allegation had been made," Leary said. "The procedure should be that the people the allegation was made against are asked for their ID. Security could have asked for it, but they wouldn't have the power to demand it. They should have brought the police down to talk to the two people."

The Parramatta and Penrith clubs, the NRL, the Parramatta Stadium Trust, Ticketek and the police joined the investigation yesterday. The Herald understands that a person who bought six tickets in the area where the offender was sitting has been identified and that he has co-operated with the investigation.

But the person who abused Civoniceva joined the group from another section of the grandstand on the invitation of one of the ticket-holders and the investigation was still trying to obtain his details.

Parramatta chief executive Denis Fitzgerald said last night video footage that included shots of the crowd on the western grandstand side had been studied, and witnesses interviewed.

"We are disgusted with the behaviour of one of our patrons in making derogatory comments towards Petero Civoniceva," Fitzgerald said. "At this time I'd like to commend the real Parramatta supporters who have come forward to help the club identify the person responsible."

NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said he believed the chances of identifying the offender were "strong".

Jesus wept: there's no place for abusive fans among Eels faithful

EVENTS at Parramatta on Sunday were unacceptable. At a time when rugby league is under mounting pressure, the last thing the game needs is a bunch of idiots hurling racial abuse at players. What's more, when the game is facing the threat of player poaching we don't need players thinking that staying here might lead to them being targeted in such a disgusting manner.

Petero Civoniceva is the last person in our game who deserves to be abused. He has always played the game hard and fair and held himself with distinction off the field. A perfect example of this has been his reaction to the incident when he took the time to apologise to those who had witnessed his actions. To have such an admirable statesman of rugby league come to Parramatta and be racially abused is a great shame to our club. The fans involved should be identified, prosecuted and banned from games forever.

But there is more to this. Most notably, the actions of security on Sunday were astonishingly poor. The offenders were pointed out to security at the ground, but far from handing them to police, the security personnel simply had a quiet word with them and let them be. How can this be allowed to happen?

Lastly, I think the events of Sunday are somewhat of a reflection of the frustration that Parramatta fans are experiencing. Before going on, I'd like to say that in no way is the following meant to be an excuse for what happened. The offenders acted in an abominable fashion and should be dealt with accordingly. However, I believe their actions were possibly due to the frustration they are feeling at the moment.

Comparisons are being made to the coin-throwing incident last year. On one hand, while the tossing of coins was unacceptable, a negative reaction to Jamie Lyon was deserved. 'Judas' had previously shown his petulant treachery towards our great club and deserved to cop it from the fans. On the other hand, Petero deserves nothing but respect when he walks on to our ground. One incident took a justified response too far, and the other was misdirected anger that turned it into a great shame for our club. I do not believe they are linked.

As a whole, Parramatta fans are quite welcoming to the opposition. It seems, however, that we still have these bad apples. We need to be vigilant in our stand against them and harsh in dealing with them.

Our great game, our fans and our players deserve nothing less.