Euro 2020: Man held after racist tweet sent to Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford was one of three England players who missed their penalty in the Euro 2020 final

A man has been arrested after a racist tweet was sent to Marcus Rashford.

West Mercia Police said the 50-year-old man, from Powick, near Worcester, was held on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after reports of the tweet posted on Sunday.

Media reports said the offensive tweet appeared on the account of a youth football coach, who claimed his Twitter account was hacked.

The suspect has since been released under investigation.

There has been widespread condemnation of online abuse aimed at the England and Manchester United attacker, as well as Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the trio missed penalties in England's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.

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"We encourage people to make these reports and are pleased with the speed at which we have been able to deal with this incident," Insp Pete Nightingale, from Worcester police station, said.

"We continue to work with the local football community and have links with the local clubs to ensure that this behaviour is dealt with appropriately."

The West Mercia force also arrested a man in his 60s from Shropshire over racist comments about England footballers on Facebook.