Luton condemn 'abhorrent' racist abuse sent to Adebayo

Elijah Adebayo has scored 42 goals in 151 appearances for Luton Town

Luton Town have condemned "abhorrent and unacceptable" racist abuse sent to forward Elijah Adebayo.

The Championship club said the 26-year-old was sent a racially abusive message on Instagram during their 2-1 defeat by Sunderland on Wednesday.

That message has been reported to the police and Instagram owner Meta for further investigation, Luton added.

It is not the first time Luton have called out racist remarks sent to Adebayo on social media, with the striker saying last October he was "tired" of the abuse aimed at him.

"We're angry, upset and frustrated to report that racist abuse has been directed towards Elijah Adebayo," the club said on their website, in a statement titled 'Is It Ever Going to Stop?'.

"Just like we said a year ago, and just like we will do WHENEVER a player or staff member is subjected to abuse, we will stand by and support Elijah unequivocally.

"To the individual who cowardly dropped into Elijah's DMs: We know who you are and you know who you are. You're not a faceless account, one which we have sadly become accustomed to reporting in recent years.

"But the question remains: how much longer will our players, our heroes – fellow human beings for crying out loud – be targeted because of the colour of their skin?

"There is no room for racism."

Speaking to BBC Look East in 2022, Adebayo said racist abuse must be punished after he was targeted for the third time in 12 months.