Players asked to send evidence of racist online abuse to PFA
- Published
A number of players boycotted social media for 24 hours in protest at racist abuse
Players have been asked to send evidence of racist online abuse to the Professional Footballers' Association to demonstrate to governing bodies the severity of the issue.
The players' union will show the posts to the sports minister and a number of football bodies at a meeting in May.
Meetings with Twitter and Facebook have also been requested after a number of recent high-profile incidents.
Players were previously encouraged to boycott social media for 24 hours.
A PFA statement said on Thursday it was asking members to send any abuse they had received to an email address that has been set up.
The messages will be presented to leading figures in football, including the Football Association, anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out and Sports Minister Mims Davies, at the meeting at Wembley.
It follows the #Enough campaign, where players were encouraged to post a graphic containing the word 'Enough' on their social media platforms before boycotting it for 24 hours.
Tottenham and England midfielder Dele Alli, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford and Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were among a number of players who took part.
Head of equalities Simone Pound said it was important to follow the boycott with "empowered action".
Incidents of racist abuse in 2018-19
December: Banana skin thrown on to the pitch during the north London derby at Emirates Stadium, after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored for Arsenal
December: Raheem Sterling suffers alleged racial abuse during Manchester City's defeat at Chelsea. Sterling later says newspapers are helping to "fuel racism" by the ways in which they portray young black footballers
March: Chelsea lodge a complaint with Uefa over racist abuse aimed at Callum Hudson-Odoi during Europa League last-16 second leg win at Dynamo Kiev
March: England report racist abuse of players during their 5-1 win over Montenegro in Podgorica
April: Juventus' 19-year-old Italian forward Moise Kean suffers racist abuse from the stands during a match at Cagliari - with team-mate Leonardo Bonucci's suggestion that Kean was partly to blame called laughable by Raheem Sterling
April: Two incidents of alleged racist abuse, towards Derby winger Duane Holmes and Wigan defender Nathan Byrne, are reported in the Championship
April: Troy Deeney and Watford team-mates Adrian Mariappa and Christian Kabasele receive racist abuse on social media
April: Ashley Young receives racist abuse online following Manchester United's Champions League defeat in Barcelona