Manchester United star Marcus Rashford racially abused online
The 23-year-old, who recently received an MBE in recognition of his campaign to feed vulnerable children during the pandemic, posted a series of messages on Twitter after receiving abuse on his social media platforms on Saturday. “Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different,” he wrote, after helping his side to a goalless draw against Arsenal on Saturday.”So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here.”I’m not sharing screenshots. It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there’s nothing original in them. “I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don’t need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated.” It comes just days after several other Premier League players received such abuse on their social media accounts. Chelsea said it was “disgusted” by racism directed at defender Reece James on Friday while Rashford’s teammates Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe were targeted online last week, with a number of racist comments and symbols appearing on old photos on Instagram.Police also arrested a 49-year-old man on suspicion of racially abusing West Bromwich Albion midfielder Romaine Sawyers on Friday. READ: Football’s fight against racism and discrimination is only just beginningCalls for actionEnglish football’s governing body, The FA, had previously said it stood “united with all of football in our abhorrence of any racist abuse” and promised to continue working with authorities to remove all forms of discrimination from the sport. Premier League teams have been taking a knee before every league match this season as a show of solidarity but there are now calls for more action.Both players and clubs have urged social media companies to do more in fighting racism on their platforms — a problem highlighted yet again by the recent spate of incidents. 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