Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker racially abused online after Man City's Champions League final defeat by Chelsea
Monkey emojis were sent to Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker's Instagram profiles following the defeat by Chelsea; Sterling was also abused after Man City's Champions League semi-final victory over Paris Saint-Germain
Sunday 30 May 2021 16:21, UK
Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker received racist abuse on social media shortly after Manchester City's 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in the Champions League final.
A number of monkey emojis were posted on both players' Instagram profiles following the final whistle at the Estadio do Dragao on Saturday evening.
"The racist abuse sent to these players last night is abhorrent and we don't want it on Instagram," a Facebook company spokesperson told Sky Sports News.
"We swiftly removed a number of comments and accounts for breaking our rules and we're continuing to review and take action against those that violate our policies.
"We have built safety features, including Comment Filters and Message Controls, which can meaningfully decrease the abuse people experience.
"No single thing will fix this challenge overnight but we're committed to doing what we can to keep our community safe from abuse."
Sterling has been subjected to online abuse on several occasions, including earlier in May following City's Champions League semi-final win over Paris Saint-Germain.
That incident came just two days after the sporting community engaged in a weekend-long social media boycott where broadcasters, clubs, teams and players came off their platforms in protest over rising levels of discrimination.
Following City's Carabao Cup final win over Tottenham last month, Walker shared a message on his Instagram story which featured racist abuse and he wrote "When is this going to stop?" while also tagging Instagram in his post.
The abuse of Sterling and Walker comes after their England team-mate Marcus Rashford said he had received "at least 70 racial slurs" on his Twitter account following Manchester United's loss in the Europa League final against Villarreal.
Some of Rashford's clubmates including David de Gea were also targeted with online hate and Greater Manchester Police are investigating the insults which were directed at members of United's squad after Wednesday's match.
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