Official Statement on rise of racist incidents within English & Scottish football

Show Racism the Red Card are extremely disappointed, but sadly not surprised, to learn that at least six professional footballers from England and Scotland received yet more racist abuse online following participation in games this weekend.

Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana and Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri were both sent messages via the Instagram platform on Saturday, with both players expressing their disbelief that that individuals still have the opportunity and motivation to send hateful messages without impunity in 2026.

Then, on Sunday, Wolves’ Tolu Arokodare and Sunderland winger Romaine Mundle became the latest Premier League players to be sent racist abuse on social media.

“It’s still unbelievable to me that we’re playing in a time where people have so much freedom to communicate such racism without any consequences,” wrote Arokodare on his Instagram story.

“These individuals should have no place in our game and collectively we have to take action to punish everyone who taints the sport like this, no matter who they are.”

In Scotland, Rangers players Emmanuel Fernandez and Djeidi Gassama both shared screen shots of messages sent to them on Instagram following the team’s 2-2 draw with Livingston on Sunday, with both players calling out the actions of those using the platform to send abuse, with comments on recent posts made by the players including multiple monkey emojis.

When racism and prejudice become normalised within society, there are consequences for everyone. The racist messages and behaviours targeted at these young men over the weekend mirror hateful messages being posted online with a rapidly increasing frequency, irrespective of the stories being shared. When racism occurs within football, it is only ever a mirror to the existence of the issue within wider society, and therefore, the solutions need to be considered holistically.

This is not a football problem. It is a societal problem.

Show Racism the Red Card agree with Hannibal Mejbri, who admirably called for people to educate themselves and their children in the face of the racism he received. Education is the key to tackling the normalisation and increase in the expression of racist ideas and attitudes, both online and in interpersonal situations, and people must be given the opportunity to learn about the development of racism and the impact that it has on individuals and whole communities. Within this, the consequences for such behaviour can also be addressed.

Once again, Show Racism the Red Card calls on the Government and on the social media platforms themselves to bring in greater regulation, including tools to prevent the sharing of such hate-filled messages, in order that individuals who would be the target can be better protected, but education must be prioritised alongside this, while more effective punishments are also considered.

We implore all individuals to stop and consider the impact of their behaviour online, and the contribution that this makes to further normalising racist actions. There are no excuses. Too many lives are already being negatively impacted by racism so far this year alone, and this will continue without a greater concentration of collective and meaningful action – both online and within communities themselves.