Manchester United took a firm stand on Thursday in a statement to fans who have racially treated players of the club on social media. The club hopes that the perpetrators will be dealt with severely.
United failed to take the lead in the Premier League on Wednesday-evening due to a surprising 1-2 defeat against the bottom of the league Sheffield United. After the game, especially Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe on Instagram and Twitter were the target of racist comments.
“Everyone at the club is disgusted by it. We strongly condemn it and it is nice to see other supporters do the same on social media. We do not tolerate any form of racism or discrimination and have been fighting against it for a long time,” he said. United’s statement.
“Identifying these anonymous, mindless idiots remains a problem. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to take steps to prevent this behavior.”
‘We want to rid football of this behavior’
Anti-racism organization Kick It Out also condemns the behavior of the group of United fans. “We are disappointed that players continue to be victims of racism on social media. It is completely unacceptable,” said Chairman Sanjay Bhandari. Sky Sports.
“We will continue to work with football authorities, law enforcement and social media companies to try to rid football of this hateful and discriminatory behavior.”
Many clubs and associations have long been fighting against racism in football, also in the Netherlands. For example, in November 2019, the KNVB launched an action plan after the much-discussed incident surrounding Excelsior attacker Ahmad Mendes Moreira, and the union said exactly one year later that many of those plans have now been realized.
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