Three season ticket holders and two members have been suspended by Manchester United over their alleged abuse over Tottenham forward Son Heung-min.
The news comes ahead of the 81-hour social media boycott by sports bodies over the coming bank holiday weekend as United confirm they have instigated sanctions against six individuals alleged to have abused Son following United’s 3-1 win at Tottenham.
Son was involved in a bit of play acting during the match, which sparked comments from both managers, though what happened on social media was a million steps too far.
Edinson Cavani had a goal disallowed because Scott McTominay had apparently fouled Son, who Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt exaggerated the contact.
In a statement sent to Stretty News, United said: “Regretfully, suspensions have been issued, subject to appeal, to three season ticket holders, two official members and one individual on the second ticket waiting list.
“This disciplinary action demonstrates the club’s commitment to the fight against discrimination on many fronts. It follows the launch of United’s anti-discrimination campaign, SEE RED, earlier this month. SEE RED called on fans to celebrate the contribution of the club’s Black and Asian players and to report discriminatory behaviour.”
The club are right to go hard on anyone who behaves in such a banner, with education being key in tackling racism. People online must know the consequences of pressing the ‘send’ button, but as you can imagine most racists aren’t very clever.
United have also reveal statistics from their own research that highlight the rise in abuse towards footballers on social media, which only raises the argument that these big tech companies must do more in the fight against racism.
Since September 2019, there’s been a 350% increase in abuse directed towards United players – counting for 3,300 posts. That is shocking! 86% of these posts were racist, while 8% were homophobic or transphobic.
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