FA blasts 'anonymous keyboard warriors' as they release statement
FA blasts ‘anonymous keyboard warriors’ as they release powerful statement following latest ‘abhorrent racist abuse’ of Lauren James and Axel Tuanzebe, calling for social media companies to dish out bans
- The FA has called on the Government to act ‘quickly’ against racism in football
- They have asked for ‘appropriate legislation’ to provide ‘real-life consequences’
- The statement came after Tuanzebe and James were both subjected to abuse
The Football Association has called on the Government to act quickly in the fight against racism.
The governing body released a statement on Twitter calling for ‘appropriate legislation’ to be brought in to provide ‘real-life consequences’ for the ‘keyboard warriors who hide in a world of impunity.’
The FA’s announcement came after Axel Tuanzebe and Lauren James were both subjected to discriminatory abuse online over the weekend.
The FA has called on the Government to act ‘quickly’ against in the fight against racism
They have called for ‘appropriate legislation’ to provide ‘real-life consequences’ for offenders
Tuanzebe suffered racist abuse once again after the Red Devils let two leads slip to draw 3-3 with Everton on Saturday.
Racists comments flooded onto Tuanzebe’s Instagram account after he gave away the free-kick which saw Everton secure the last-minute draw at Old Trafford.
Axel Tuanzebe was subjected to racist abuse for the second time after the draw with Everton
Vile messages flooded in on Saturday night after United gave away two leads at Old Trafford
While James, the sister of Chelsea defender Reece James, shared a vile screenshot of a number of monkey emojis directed to her by one particular user under her Instagram upload.
Following the two incidents, the FA released the following statement: ‘It has been yet another weekend where players are facing discriminatory abuse and having to deal with anonymous keyboard warriors who hide in a world of impunity. At The FA, we believe that enough is enough.
‘We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real-life consequences.
‘Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.
James posted the screenshot of a hateful social media comment with the caption ‘boring now’
‘We stand with Lauren James, Axel Tuanzebe and every victim of discrimination in all its forms. It’s time for change.’
A number of players have received similar racial abuse in recent days as part of a worrying spate of abuse from online trolls.
Manchester United stars Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have all been involved in similar incidents after their defeat by Sheffield United.
The Greater Manchester Police revealed they will be launching an investigation into the barrage of online abuse the players received.
While Chelsea defender Reece James, Lauren’s older brother, has been subjected to such discrimination too – prompting Blues owner Roman Abramovich to send a letter to every player at the club condemning the messages and offering support.
Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi has shared his opinion on the rise in online abuse. Following the news that Antonio Rudiger had been targeted, Hudson-Odoi told beIN Sports: ‘How can that make sense?
Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have also been racially abused on social media recently
Rudiger’s Chelsea team-mate Callum Hudson-Odoi hit out at social media companies after Sportsmail revealed they did not consider aggressive use of the monkey emoji to breach rules
‘If somebody puts for example, a monkey emoji towards a player – why is that? How is a player a monkey? What does that mean to a player?
‘So for us seeing stuff like that it always makes us angry. Are you saying that because of our skin colour? Because of the colour that we are?
‘Or are you just saying that because you just want to be, you think that you’re funny or you want to get a laugh out of people?
‘No one laughs at that sort of situation. All of us take that personally as a team and as players. We have to do something about it.’
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