Marcus Rushford claims that he had to face racism and abuse on social media. He has seen social media at its worst. For his work on fighting child food poverty, he was awarded the MBE at the age of only 22. He said that he had received many racist comments and messages on Instagram. He got all those racist messages after the United’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal. He has also tweeted that he is proud of himself and his success. He is not ashamed of being a black man either.
As Instagram is now owned by Facebook, they also released a statement that says they have taken actions by removing those accounts and racist comments as well. They also said that they are continuing their investigation on this case. While speaking on the Match of the day, the former England striker Ian Wright also said that the social media companies should investigate more to identify the culprits. He said that whatever the authorities and social media companies do is definitely worth it but deep down nothing can affect their mentality.
According to a statement that was released on Sunday, the GMP (Greater Manchester Police) claimed that they were aware of the abuse because there are a number of Manchester United players who had already suffered these kinds of abuses mostly on social media platforms. In fact most of them were reported between Wednesday and Saturday. They understand that nobody should face such abuse and this is definitely very upsetting. This is not only for those who had to suffer these kinds of situations but for all of them who had to come across those awful things as well. Those hateful languages do not have any place in our respected society whether it is online or offline.
The Greater Manchester Police also added that they have reported a number of abusive comments and they are working with them to provide support. They will continue investigating those cyber crimes thoroughly. According to an FA statement, they claimed that it is definitely not acceptable in any part of the respected society. People generally get United with the football which is definitely not a suitable place for all these cruel and disgusting behaviors.
In fact Chelsea also said that they were shocked to know that Reece James was racially abused on the social media platforms as well. A man got arrested on Saturday after a racist message was delivered to Romaine Sawyer who is a West Brom midfielder.