Southampton have said they are 'disgusted and disappointed' that their players have once again been racially abused online

SOUTHAMPTON FOOTBALL CLUB HAVE SAID they are 'disgusted and disappointed' that their players have been racially abused online once again.  

Manchester United and Southampton played out a 0-0 draw on Sunday and after the game Saints full back Kyle Walker-Peters suffered racist abuse online.

The club have sent the messages to Hampshire Police and claimed that an investigation was ongoing 

The start of the statement from Southampton read: "In February 2021 the club made a statement about one of our young players receiving abhorrent racial abuse following a match against Manchester United. 

"More than two years on, we find ourselves in the exact same position: disgusted and disappointed in the behaviour of those online who lower themselves to abusing players for the colour of their skin.

"What is equally frustrating is the lack of meaningful action in those two years from the social media platforms who allow such hatred to breed and fester.

"As we have said before, Southampton Football Club fights every day to remove such people from our sport and our community in order to protect our players, our staff, Southampton fans and those football supporters around the world who recognise and celebrate the diversity that makes football special."

#SaintsFC has issued a statement following racial abuse being directed towards some of its players online:

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 13, 2023

The statement also went to add: "We have forwarded the messages concerned to Hampshire Police in keeping with our normal processes when dealing with these cases.

"We have also reported these posts to the social media platforms involved.

"We can only hope that they finally pay attention to what continues to be a major problem and that we do not find ourselves repeating these words in another two years' time." 

The English Football Association also added in a separate statement: "We strongly condemn the racist online abuse that continues to be directed towards players across our game. 

"We urge social media companies and authorities to take the strongest possible action and we will not stop challenging this issue until tangible changes are made." 

This comes two years after 19-year-old midfielder Alex Jankewitz received abusive messages online after being sent off on his first Premier League start in a 9-0 defeat at the hands of United. 

Southampton's next game is against Brentford on Wednesday.