Section:GDN 1N PaGe:40 Edition Date:190821 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 20/8/2019 19:54 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Wednesday 21 Au g u st 2019
(^40) Sport
Football
Stain on
the game
There have
already
been nine
reports
of racist
incidents
this season
in English
football
3
August
Barnsley v
Fulham
Fulham and
Republic of
Ireland defender
Cyrus Christie
alleged two
supporters hit
and racially
abused his sister
during the 1-0
defeat. In the
same match
the Senegalese
defender Bambo
Diaby ( right)
was subjected to
“unacceptable
discrimination”,
with Barnsley
urging fans to
stop singing a
“derogatory and
off ensive” chant.
Coventry v
Southend
Southend
and Jamaica
forward Theo
Robinson
claimed he was
a target of racist
abuse from a
fan sitting near
his family and
friends
Stoke v QPR
Stoke’s Republic
of Ireland
midfi elder
James McClean,
who has been
subjected to
sectarian abuse
in the past, was
targeted on the
opening day
of the season.
Derby v
Huddersfi eld
Derby’s Duane
Holmes
( right) was
subjected to
racist abuse
online by
someone
claiming to be
a Nottingham
Forest fan.
AD Nervión FC v
QPR Under-18s
All 11 QPR
players walked
off the pitch
in Andalucia
after they were
subjected to
monkey noises
and racist abuse
from their
opponents.
3
August
3
August
5
August
8
August
Neville calls for
boycott of social
media over abuse
Suzanne Wrack
Phil Neville has called for the football
community to “send a powerful mes-
sage” and boycott social media for six
months in response to the rise in racist
abuse of players.
“I’ve lost total faith in whoever runs
these social media departments, so I
just wonder whether now as a football
community, in terms of really send-
ing a powerful message, it is: come off
social media,” said the England wom-
en’s manager. “Six months – let’s come
off social media. Let’s see the eff ect
that it has on these social media com-
panies, whether they’re really going
to do something about it.”
Manchester United’s Paul Pogba
became the third player to suffer
online racist abuse after a week in
which Tammy Abraham received
similar abuse and the Reading striker
Yakou Méïté highlighted messages
sent to him. Harry Maguire was one
of several United players to come out
in support of their teammate, with the
defender suggesting that social media
companies implement new stringent
rules to clamp down on off enders.
“Disgusting. Social media need
to do something about it... ,” wrote
Maguire. “Every account that is
opened should be verifi ed by a pass-
port/driving licence. Stop these
pathetic trolls making numerous
accounts to abuse people”.
In October Neville similarly con-
demned “absolutely disgraceful”
abuse directed at England’s and
Chelsea’s Karen Carney following her
team’s last-16 Champions League win
over Fiorentina. The winger posted
screenshots of messages received
which included death threats. “We
talk to them all the time because my
players get that kind of abuse all the
time, whether it’s racist, sexist or
homophobic,” Neville said. “ Nothing
gets done about it.
“It’s not going away. I think there’s
some fantastic campaigns, initiatives,
messaging that goes out, particularly
in the Premier League, through the FA,
about trying to stamp out racism. And
at times you feel as if you’re making
inroads and then you get probably a
massive reminder that actually we’re
probably not.
“It’s a problem not just in football.
It’s a problem in society but football
now is at the forefront of everybody’s
minds in terms of we’ve got the power
to do something about it. I think the
football community will. ”
Echoing Maguire , Neville called for
all accounts to be verifi ed and account-
able: “Maguire said this morning about
being verifi ed. You can be an egg on
Twitter and no one knows who you
are.”
Twitter said in a statement: “We’re
fully aware of and share the concerns
surrounding online racist abuse
towards certain footballers in the UK
over recent days. We strongly con-
demn this unacceptable behaviour
and have now permanently suspended
a series of accounts for violating our
Hateful Conduct Policy. We’re pro-
actively monitoring the conversation
online and will continue taking robust
action on any account which violates
our rules. This is a societal issue and
requires a societal response. This is why
we maintain a dialogue with both the
PFA and Kick It Out and are committed
to working together to address abusive
online and racist behaviour across
the industry .”
Phil Neville
England women’s manager
‘We have the power
to do something
about it. Why don’t
we make a stand?’
▲ Phil Neville wants the football
community to boycott social media
United
‘d i sg usted’
by racism
aimed
at Pogba
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United have expressed
“disgust” at the raci st abuse directed
at Paul Pogba following the 1-1 draw at
Wolves on Monday.
The midfi elder had a second-half
penalty saved, having won it with a run
into the area. It was his fourth miss in
11 spot-kicks but Ole Gunnar Solskjær
backed Pogba , with Marcus Rashford
being United’s other penal ty taker.
Pogba was the third player in seven
days to be abused in this manner for
missing a penalty.
A club statement said: “Everyone at
Manchester United is disgusted by the
racial abuse aimed at Paul Pogba and
we utterly condemn it. The individu-
als who expressed these views do not
represent the values of our great club
and it is encouraging to see the vast
majority of our 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 #AllRedAllEqual
initiative.
“We will work to identify the few
involved in these incidents and take
the strongest course of action avail-
able to us. We also encourage social
media companies to take action in
these cases.”
Rashford said on Twitter : “Enough
now, this needs to stop @Twitter. Man-
chester United is a family. @paulpogba
is a huge part of that family. You attack
him you attack us all...”
On Sunday the Reading and Ivory
RELEASED BY "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws