Arsenal’s Willian Latest EPL Star To Suffer Racial Abuse

 

Arsenal Brazilian midfielder Willian has revealed that he has been sent racist abuse on social media.

Willian, 32, shared screenshots of abusive messages sent to him on Instagram.

The former Chelsea star showed his Instagram followers direct message threads from two different users sending racist abuse, in three separate messages.

He wrote alongside the messages: “Something needs to change! The fight against racism continues.”

An Arsenal spokesperson added: “We all need to work together to drive this behaviour out. This includes clubs, governing bodies, fans, media and politicians; but requires the help and commitment of social media companies.

“We commit to using our voice and network to strengthen measures and action taken by relevant authorities to punish those responsible for this abuse which affects us all. Where any individual is found to have an Arsenal membership, they will be banned.”

On Thursday, Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham said social media abuse being directed at players and officials was “the biggest problem in the game at the moment”.

Premier League referee Mike Dean notified police after his family received a number of threats, including death threats and abusive messages.

Earlier this month Facebook, which owns Instagram, said it would not ban a user who racially abused Swansea’s Yan Dhanda.