Police have called on the Premier League and English Football League to boost cooperation with officers in the drive to stamp out racist abuse in the game. A number of players including Manchester United trio: Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Axel Tuanzebe have been targeted on social media in recent weeks.
Deputy Chief Constable, Mark Roberts wrote to Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters and the Chairman of the English Football League, Rick Parry in January but only received replies this week.
Looking at the chances of fans to return to stadia in May, Roberts, who leads on football for the National Police Chiefs’ Council fears there could be a rise in hate crimes when fans return to stadiums as the coronavirus lockdown is eased.
“We have had experiences where a force has been making real attempts to try to get to a player and they’ve hit this wall at a club,” he said. The deputy chief constable also voiced his frustration at delays by social media giants in responding to police requests for information.
Roberts wants leagues to provide weekly updates of racist abuse and disorder to the UK Football Policing Unit and a member of the unit to be a point of contact for clubs on matchdays.
Meanwhile, report gathered said the Premier League spokesman was doing “everything possible” to eradicate online racial abuse and the EFL said it had contacted Roberts to discuss a coordinated approach.
