Manchester United have responded to the racist abuse faced by players in the premier league via social media and state that it is unacceptable as more need to be done to identify perpetrators.
The Reds forward is the latest player to face racist abuse after the 0-0 draw against Arsenal in the league, his team-mates Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial, as well as West Bromwich Albion’s Romaine Sawyers and Chelsea’s Reece James, were also victims.
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Rashford who holds the award of MBE for his campaign against food poverty responded to the act when he was targeted saying “Humanity and social media at its worst.”
He tweeted. “Yes, I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here.
“I’m not sharing screenshots [of the abuse], he added.
“It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there’s nothing original in them.
“I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don’t need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated.”
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday afternoon, United’s director of communications Charlie Brooks said: “We’re incredibly proud of Marcus on a number of levels for everything that he has done.
“When it comes to the abuse that the players are suffering at the moment, it’s not just an issue for our club or for football in general, it’s society’s problem.
“Football becomes a lightning rod for it and these people won’t win, the players won’t let it affect them, but nobody should have to put up with the level of abuse that players across the board are getting at the moment.”
Brooks continued: “You hear people saying ‘maybe the players should come off social media.’ The players shouldn’t have to come off social media. Social media is a great tool for them to communicate with fans. They shouldn’t have to come off it simply because a few individuals are perpetrating this kind of sick abuse.”
As for how those individuals might be identified, the club’s communications director added: “I think that’s something the Premier League is determined to look at, we’re determined to look at as a club, and I know the police are determined to look at it. I think the problem comes when these people are allowed to hide behind anonymous accounts.
“The reality is if they are not able to be identified on social media, it’s very hard to trace them. Really the onus has to be on the social media companies to do something about that. We need to see verifiable, identifiable accounts. Sometimes there are good reasons why some people want to remain anonymous on the front end of social media, but it shouldn’t be the case that they can’t be tracked or identified on the back end if they’re going to carry on with this kind of abuse.”
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