England women’s manager Phil Neville on Tuesday said he believes soccer players should boycott social media in the wake of Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba becoming the latest high-profile figure to suffer racist abuse online.
Pogba was targeted after his penalty was saved in United’s 1-1 draw at the Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, just days after Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham suffered similar abuse.
“I think we probably have to take drastic measures now as a football community — I’ve had it with my players on social media, the Premier League stars and the Championship have had it,” Neville said.
“I just wonder whether as a football community we come off social media, because Twitter won’t do anything about it, Instagram won’t do anything about it — they send you an e-mail reply saying they’ll investigate, but nothing happens,” he said.
“So let’s send a powerful message: Come off social media [for] six months. Let’s see the effect it has on these social media companies,” Neville added.
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire also called on Twitter and Instagram to be more proactive to stop “pathetic trolls.”
“Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it,” Maguire said on Twitter. “Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people. @Twitter @instagram.”
Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out last month in a report said that incidents of racist abuse increased by 43 percent last season.
“The number of posts such as these since the start of the season further highlights how discriminatory abuse online is out of control,” it said on Tuesday. “Without immediate and the strongest possible action these cowardly acts will continue to grow.”
Abraham missed the final penalty in a shootout as Chelsea lost to Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday last week.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard called for social media sites to do more to prevent players being abused, while Abraham has said he wants to “silence the haters” with his performances on the pitch.
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