Yannick Bolasie slams ‘keyboard warriors’ after receiving racist abuse online

Yannick Bolasie file photo
PA

Yannick Bolasie is the latest footballer to be subjected to racial abuse online as pressure continues to mount on social media companies to tackle the problem.

Patrick van Aanholt, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Willian and Reece James are among a number of players to be targeted in recent weeks.

Bolasie, on loan at Middlesbrough from Everton, has hit out at "keyboard warriors" as he posted a screenshot of a message he received on Instagram.

The 31-year-old tweeted: "Something seriously wrong with people ... Keyboard warriors. Still yet to meet a person who had this energy when they saw me."

Everton condemned the incident and said they would not tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind.

"There is no room for racism in football or society. By working together, we can fight discrimination wherever it exists," the club said in a statement to Sky Sports.

"Everybody has a part to play and social media abuse should never go unreported. We also urge social media platforms to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour."

Instagram last month announced new measures to deal with online abuse, including removing accounts of people who send abusive messages and developing new controls to help reduce the abuse people see.

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