Chelsea
defender Reece James has highlighted racial abuse he received on social
media, insisting "something needs to change".
James's Instagram story highlighting one user's abusive messages privately
sent to him comes just days after Manchester United pair Axel Tuanzebe and
Anthony Martial, and West Brom midfielder Romaine Sawyers were all racially
abused online.
James posted a screenshot of a thread of racist messages sent to him by a
user with the player's own caption saying: "Something needs to change!".
The England international later tweeted: "No room for racism."
"Everyone at Chelsea FC is disgusted with the racist abuse Reece James
received on social media on Friday evening," a Chelsea statement said on
Friday night.
"This club finds racism and all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely
unacceptable. We totally condemn it.
"In sport, as in wider society, we must create a social media environment
where hateful and discriminatory actions are as unacceptable online as they
would be on the street.
"We add our voice to those urging social media platforms and regulatory
authorities to take stronger, more effective and more urgent action against
this despicable behaviour.
"Something needs to change and it needs to change now."
Anti-racism group Kick It Out has condemned the recent abuse towards
Tuanzebe, Martial and Sawyers, and says it will continue to work with social
media companies and the relevant authorities to hold those responsible to
account.
Sky Sports News has approached Facebook for comment.
Kick It Out and Sky have launched a partnership to end racism in sport
Premier League will support victims of
racist abuse
In a statement released on Friday, before James revealed the abuse he has
received, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters condemned the
racist abuse sent to Sawyers, Tuanzebe and Martial.
"I am appalled to see the racial abuse received by players this week,"
Masters said. "Racist behaviour of any form is unacceptable and nobody
should have to deal with it. Tackling online hate is a priority for
football, and I believe social media companies need to do more.
"We at the Premier League will continue to support players, managers and
their families who receive discriminatory online abuse. Through our central
reporting system we have been able to take immediate action on cases like
this and we investigate every report received, with legal action taken where
possible.
"We are in regular dialogue with social media companies, challenging them to
do more against discriminatory abuse on their platforms. We want to see
swifter removal of offensive messages and improved identification and
banning of offenders."
Hate Won't Stop Us
Sky Sports is committed to making skysports.com and our channels on social
media platforms a place for comment and debate that is free of abuse, hate
and profanity.
For more information please visit: www.skysports.com/hatewontstopus
If you see a reply to Sky Sports posts and/or content with an expression of
hate on the basis of race, colour, gender, nationality, ethnicity,
disability, religion, sexuality, age or class please copy the URL to the
hateful post or screengrab it and email us here.
Kick It Out reporting racism
Kick It Out is football's equality and inclusion organisation - working
throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge
discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive
change.
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