Pogba: Racist insults make me stronger

Paul Pogba has vowed to fight racism “for the next generation” after being the target of online trolls.

The Manchester United midfielder was subjected to racist abuse on social media after missing a penalty during last week’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Wolves.

Team-mate Marcus Rashford suffered similar attacks after also missing from the spot in Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace, while Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Reading’s Yakou Meite have been targeted in the past week.

Pogba wrote on his Twitter account: “My ancestors and my parents suffered for my generation to be free today, to work, to take the bus, to play football. Racist insults are ignorance and can only make me stronger and motivate me to fight for the next generation.”

The spate of abusive posts aimed at players prompted anti-discrimination campaigners Kick It Out to call for “decisive action” against offenders. United want to meet with officials from social media platform Facebook this week to discuss what can be done to quell the worrying incidents.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was angry and exasperated when informed about the latest incident.

That stance is shared by everyone at Old Trafford as United sent a note to both Facebook and Twitter last Tuesday following what happened to Pogba after the match at Wolves.

They do not believe that the problem is as bad on Facebook as it is on Twitter, but they still want to speak with them to hear what measures are being put in place to try and clamp down on this anti-social development.

Kick It Out also responded to the abuse of Rashford at the weekend, writing in a statement: “The vile racist abuse on social media continued today. This problem will not go away and needs decisive action that’s what we’ll be making clear to Twitter when we meet.

“Without immediate and the strongest possible action, these cowardly acts will continue to grow.”