Only three join abuse fight

ONLY three Premier League clubs have told police they will work with them to help players deal with online racist abuse. Sportsmail understands Brighton, Manchester City and Norwich City will combine their efforts with law enforcement as online vitriol increases. Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s football lead, claimed last night that just over half of the 92 clubs in the top four divisions have responded to a letter sent over the summer. ‘Only 49 have come back with a positive response. So far only eight clubs have facilitated us getting the officers, PFA and Kick It Out in to speak to the players,’ Roberts told Sky News. ‘We hear all the slogans, we hear the commitment. When we try and take some positive steps to support players and clubs, we need more than words sometimes.’ Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford were targeted with racist abuse after England’s Euros final defeat by Italy. Roberts insisted that clubs should do more to tackle the problem. ‘Everyone says they want to tackle it, but then we give opportunities and it doesn’t happen,’ he said. ‘That’s a disappointing take-up — the numbers speak for themselves.’