FA demands action after Manchester United’s Lauren James racially abused
The Football Association has called for swift government action after Manchester United’s Lauren James became the latest player to be sent racist abuse on social media. The forward was targeted just over a week after her brother Reece James, who plays for Chelsea.
On Saturday Axel Tuanzebe, of United’s men’s team, received racist messages online for the second time in less than a fortnight. His clubmates Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, West Brom’s Romaine Sawyers and Southampton’s Alex Jankewitz are also known to have been targeted during that period.
Lauren James marked the abuse she got on Instagram as “boring nowww” and wrote: “Instagram on a real need to do something about it or they will lose so many individuals on their platform – cause [sic] that’s the only way they will actually listen … Could even just remove any emojis with racist meanings. Too easy for some kid to press a few emojis in order to try and grab some attention. Too much talk around these days, and nothing ever gets done. Usual story.”
Facebook, which owns Instagram, has said it is working with players, clubs and the football authorities to tackle the issue. “There is no place for racism on Instagram and we are committed to removing it when we find it,” it has said.
The FA said: “It has been yet another weekend where players are facing discriminatory abuse and having to deal with anonymous keyboard warriors who hide in a world of impunity. At the FA, we believe that enough is enough.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has reallife consequences.”