Time and again we have come across instances where footballers and other sportsmen from the fraternity have complained about facing racist comments on social media. The likes of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and others have even come ahead and even reported such ugly acts on social media. But this has been a prolonged issue for a while now. Now, with this English football clubs have decided to boycott social media for about four days. The clubs will boycott Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in a 'symbolic gesture' which is a mark of protest against online abuse. This is done to eradicate online hate and abuse which the footballers are subjected to quite often. So it means the fans will see a lesser amount of content on social media from April 30, 2021. Police To Investigate Racial Abuse Against Marcus Rashford, Other Manchester United Footballers on Social Media.

Clubs including Premier League, English Football League, Women’s Super League, The Football Association, Football Supporters’ Association, Professional Footballers’ Association, League Managers’ Association, Women in Football, Women’s Championship and its clubs, refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and anti-discrimination charity Kick it Out have decided to be a part of it.

Earlier the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton had issued a joint statement and said that they stand shoulder to shoulder in curbing online abuse and racism. Man United had also urged the authorities to take measures to prevent such kinds of ugly incidents. Recently,  Swansea City and Birmingham City as well as Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers had boycotted social media as a step against racism and online abuse.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 28, 2021 11:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).