‘Enough!’ - Footballers in England want clampdown on social media racism

September 05, 2019
Manchester United’s Paul Pogba (front) fails to score penalty kick during the English Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, on Monday, August 19.
Manchester United’s Paul Pogba (front) fails to score penalty kick during the English Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, on Monday, August 19.

LONDON (AP):

Football players in England are asking social media companies to permanently delete accounts after a single racist post and commit greater resources to identifying abuse.

The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) met with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram after many of its members staged a 24-hour social media boycott in April as part a campaign called "Enough."

But the opening month of the English Premier League season has seen black players subjected to racial abuse, including Paul Pogba after missing a penalty for Manchester United, and the PFA wants tougher action from the social networks.

The PFA told The Associated Press that it wants "sufficient resources dedicated to identifying and removing offending posts without delay."

Twitter said yesterday that in the last two weeks it had "taken action on more than 700 examples of abuse and hateful conduct related to UK football."

That action wasn't specified and the players want more transparency. The PFA is demanding players are informed "the offending account has been permanently suspended."

Twitter declined to directly comment on the PFA's requests.

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