Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling was racially abused on Instagram less than 48 hours after English football’s social media boycott campaign was brought to an end.
The abuse occurred after City’s Champions League semi-final victory over Paris St Germain on Tuesday.
Raheem Sterling abused after Man City’s semifinal win
A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said on Wednesday that the company had removed the comment and taken action against the account responsible.
Two City supporters were banned from football matches for five years in January last year for racially abusing Sterling.
The Football Association has called on the British government to introduce legislation to compel social media companies to do more to eradicate online abuse following the sport community’s four-day boycott last weekend.
This incident makes it clear that the scourge of online racism cannot be dealt with overnight and more has to be done by all the stakeholders involved to address the issue.
