Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling and defender Kyle Walker were racially harassed on Instagram following the team’s 1-0 loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final on Saturday.
The two received monkey emoticons on their Instagram accounts following the game. Sterling was also assaulted following City’s semi-final victory against Paris Saint-Germain, which occurred just after English soccer’s social media boycott campaign that ended earlier this month. Reuters has reached out to Facebook, which owns Instagram, seeking comment.
Several Premier League players, including Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, Liverpool’s Trent-Alexander Arnold and Sadio Mane, Chelsea’s Reece James, have been targeted in recent months. Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford said, he was exposed to “at least 70 racial remarks” on social media following Wednesday’s Europa League final loss to Villarreal.
English football authorities addressed an open letter to Facebook and Twitter in February, asking banning and prompt removal of harmful remarks, as well as an enhanced user verification procedure.
Instagram has announced additional restrictions, while Twitter has pledged to continue its work after addressing over 700 complaints of abuse linked to soccer in the United Kingdom in 2019. Britain said this month that, a planned new legislation would punish social media companies up to 10% of their annual revenue or £18 million ($25.56 million) if they failed to combat online harassment, with senior executives also facing criminal charges.