Here we go again- another Manchester United player was subjected to extreme racial abuse online after missing a penalty kick. And once again the leadership of the club has publicly denounced the racial abuse being perpetrated on social media.
Marcus Rashford missed the first penalty kick of his career yesterday in United’s home loss to Crystal Palace, the first time the south London club has beaten United in the Premier League era. Five days after midfielder Paul Pogba was subjected to racial abuse online, following his PK miss in the draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the same awful fate befell Rashford.
Solskjaer rightfully called out those who hide behind a keyboard and hurl racist barbs online.
“It’s the same as we spoke about before the weekend; it needs to stop,” Solskjaer said at a news conference following United’s historical loss to Palace.
“I’m just lost for words. They keep hiding behind fake IDs and it’s crazy we talk about this in 2019.”
At his Friday news conference Solskjaer also discussed the darkest elements of social media, and suggested the tech companies take better action to regulate against this type of behavior.
Twitter released a statement this past week announcing that they are working with MUFC in investigating the incidents perpetrated against Pogba.
Yesterday’s loss dropped United to sixth in the Premier League table. They’ll take on Southampton next weekend, in the final match before the first international break.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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