West Brom’s Callum Robinson (right) celebrates with his teammates Ainsley Maitland-Niles (center) and Mbaye Diagne (left) during their 5-2 win against Chelsea in the Premier League. Photo taken from West Brom’s Twitter page.
West Bromwich Albion said they have contacted West Midlands Police to report the online racist abuse directed at striker Callum Robinson after he scored twice in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Chelsea in the Premier League.
Ireland international Robinson and Matheus Pereira scored a brace each at Stamford Bridge as second-bottom West Brom moved within seven points of the safety zone.
Robinson is the latest Premier League player to be racially abused on social media after Manchester United’s Axel Tuanzebe, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial and Arsenal’s Willian and Eddie Nketiah were all targeted in recent months.
“The despicable Instagram posts were sent in reply to the Republic of Ireland international after he scored twice in a memorable team performance at Stamford Bridge,” West Brom said in a statement.
“Albion will continue to confront all forms of discrimination and will assist the authorities with their inquiries, seeking the toughest available legal punishment.”
Chelsea condemned the incident, saying they were “disgusted with posts” and found “all forms of discriminatory behaviour totally unacceptable”.
The spurt in online abuse of players has prompted English soccer bodies to put pressure on social media companies to tackle the problem.
Instagram has announced measures such as removing the accounts of senders of abusive messages and developing new controls to reduce the abuse seen.