BEVERLY HILLS, January 28, (THEWILL) – English Premier League club, Manchester United, Thursday, condemned viral racial abuse directed at Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe after the defeat to Sheffield United in Wednesday’s heavy upset.
This came after both players received a massive torrent of racial messages on Twitter and Instagram which were so insensitive that Tuanzebe, apparently, had to delete his accounts to keep out the abuse.
A sternly worded statement issued by Manchester United reads in part: “Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night’s game. We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also.
“Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our All Red All Equal initiative.
“Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.“
On his part, team captain , Harry Maguire, took to his own social media to reiterate the club’s statement, posting a photo of himself taking the knee before the match, saying “We will not tolerate it.”
The English FA, which does not take kindly to racial abuses, said it will have to look into the issue and, where possible, take stringent actions against offenders as they have often done in the past working in close collaboration with groups like the anti-discrimination charity “Kick It Out”.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
