Rio Ferdinand blasts Manchester United fans for racially abusing Axel Tuanzebe

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has led the condemnation of the racist abuse suffered by Axel Tuanzebe following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United on Wednesday night.

Tuanzebe was a surprise starter against the Blades, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drafting the centre-back into his starting XI on the day of the game following injury to Eric Bailly.

United were unexpectedly beaten by the Blades, in what was a major dent to the club’s title bid.

Tuanzebe was one of a group of United fans to apologise for the performance on social media after the defeat but the defender was bombarded with racist abuse from supporters, after what was his first Premier League start of the campaign.

The defender deleted his post on Instagram after the backlash but Rio Ferdinand has lead the condemnation of supporters who racially abused the defender.

‘This is just a disgrace,’ said Ferdinand.

‘These ignorant idiots need to be exposed so everyone can see them for what they are!’

Club captain Harry Maguire was also quick to call out supporters, saying racism will not be ‘tolerated’ in a defiant post.

‘UNITED against racism,’ said Maguire.

‘We will not tolerate it.’

United released a club statement of their own after the posts to show their support for Tuanzebe.

The club say they are ‘disgusted’ by the responses to Tuanzebe’s posts and that they ‘utterly condemn’ the abuse.

‘Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night’s game,’ a statement read.

‘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.‘

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