Crystal Palace says they've taken action after winger Wilfried Zaha was the subject of racial abuse on social media.
In a statement on the club's website, they said:
"Crystal Palace Football Club has taken action after one of our players, Wilfried Zaha, has again been subjected to racist abuse on social media.
We will not tolerate this behaviour being directed at any of our players and will fully support them in dealing with such incidents.
Any action we can take unilaterally as a Club will be taken immediately and we will also seek cooperation from other clubs where relevant, following that we will pursue the matter criminally with the full force of whatever the law allows."
Our statement in response to the latest incident of racist abuse directed at @CPFC's Wilfred Zaha online.#KickItOut pic.twitter.com/Bd4cOT6FHt
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) October 9, 2019
Anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out has also welcomed the development. It released a statement, saying:
“We fully support the response from Crystal Palace to the latest incident of vile racist abuse directed at Wilfried Zaha online.
“It’s extremely frustrating to continue to witness hatred on social platforms.
“While recognising it is a wider social issue, we utterly condemn the language used and demand that the platforms come forward with appropriate actions.”
There have been multiple claims of racial abuse in soccer over the past number of months. Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford received abuse for missing penalties for Manchester United, while Aston Villa this week condemned their fans for singing a racist chant.
Footage emerged at the weekend of Villa fans singing the song - directed at midfielder Marvelous Nakamba in a Carrow Road concourse around the club's 5-1 win over Norwich. The club said that anyone found engaging in such behaviour in the future will be dealt with by the police.
