Marcus Rashford: Manchester United star sent racist abuse on social media after Arsenal draw

Marcus Rashford started for Manchester United during Saturday’s draw with Arsenal
Manchester United via Getty Imag
George Flood31 January 2021

Marcus Rashford has spoken out after becoming the latest footballer to be targeted by sickening racist abuse online.

The Manchester United and England striker received offensive messages on social media after Saturday’s Premier League goalless draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Rashford issued a powerful and defiant response to the vile abuse, declining to share screenshots of the comments in question and claiming it would have been “irresponsible” to do so.

"Humanity and social media at its worst," Rashford wrote on Twitter. "Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here.

“I’m not sharing screenshots. It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there’s nothing original in them. I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don’t need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated.”

The pressure on social media companies to increase their efforts in the fight against abuse and discrimination continues to increase daily, with Rashford the fifth Premier League footballer to be targeted by racist messages this week.

On Friday evening, Chelsea defender Reece James shared a screengrab of abuse he had received on Instagram and wrote alongside it: “Something needs to change.”

James later wrote: “We all have a part to play in making this world a better & more equal place! Racism is completely unacceptable! Human is our only race! @instagram you must do more!! #notoracism.”

West Midlands Police have also confirmed that a man has been arrested after a racist message was sent to West Brom midfielder Romaine Sawyers during Tuesday’s match against Manchester City, while they are also investigating reports of another racist comment made towards the player.

Earlier on Saturday, the Football Association (FA) condemned the racist abuse of players and vowed to continue to work with social media companies and the government to eradicate discrimination.

“We are united with all of football in our abhorrence of any racist abuse,” the FA said in a statement. "This is not acceptable in any part of society.

“We will continue to work with the rest of the game, the government and social media platforms to remove this - and all elements of - discrimination from our sport.”

The Premier League similarly condemned the racist abuse of players on Friday and urged social media companies to do more to combat the issue.

"I am appalled to see the racial abuse received by players this week. Racist behaviour of any form is unacceptable and nobody should have to deal with it. Tackling online hate is a priority for football, and I believe social media companies need to do more,” said Premier League chief executive Richard Masters.

"We at the Premier League will continue to support players, managers and their families who receive discriminatory online abuse. Through our central reporting system we have been able to take immediate action on cases like this and we investigate every report received, with legal action taken where possible.

"We are in regular dialogue with social media companies, challenging them to do more against discriminatory abuse on their platforms. We want to see swifter removal of offensive messages and improved identification and banning of offenders."

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