Spurs footballer Son Heung-min subjected to ‘utterly reprehensible’ racist abuse
Tottenham Hotspur footballer Son Heung-min has been subjected to “utterly reprehensible” racist abuse, his club has said.
The abuse occurred online during Spurs’ 2-0 victory over West Ham on Sunday, when the South Korean forward came off the bench to score the second goal.
Following the match, Spurs posted on Twitter: “We have been made aware of the utterly reprehensible online racist abuse directed at Heung-Min Son during today’s match, which has been reported by the club.
“We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action.”
The Football Association replied to Tottenham’s tweet, saying: “We strongly condemn the racist abuse aimed at Son Heung-min…
“This has no place in our game and we fully support the authorities and social media companies to take the strongest possible action to tackle it.”
Earlier this season, Chelsea banned a season ticket holder indefinitely for alleged racist abuse of Son.
The latest abuse comes after anti-racism group Kick It Out demanded “meaningful reforms” when Brentford striker Ivan Toney was targeted on Instagram.
Toney was racially abused after his controversial equaliser against Arsenal, which should have been ruled out by VAR for offside against team-mate Christian Norgaard.
The Brentford player also revealed in October last year that he had been targeted on Instagram after scoring both goals in a 2-0 league victory over Brighton.
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Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, condemned the abuse at the time, but said it could not take action because the message had not been reported within the app.
Police were called in and Antonio Neill, 24, of Northumberland, admitted a charge of sending an offensive message to Toney at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court in January.
