August 19 – Chelsea fans are once again back in the spotlight all the wrong reasons after their own striker Tammy Abraham was racially abused online following last week’s Super Cup defeat to Liverpool when he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout.
A Chelsea spokesman described the online posts as “abhorrent“, with the club promising the “strongest possible action“ if those responsible can be identified.
Speaking ahead of yesterday’s Premier League game with Leicester, for which Abraham was also selected, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard did not mince his words.
“Tammy is more than disappointed, that’s probably the wrong word. I am particularly disgusted by the (one) so-called Chelsea fan,” said Lampard.
“Somebody sitting behind a keyboard or a phone has said the most disgusting things possible. I don’t know how these platforms are allowed that you can do it. It is too easy to be done. Something needs to be done as well as people changing their mindsets completely.
“That might not be easy with everybody but I am so angry for Tammy, angry for us as a club because that’s not what we are about.
“The club does a lot of work against discrimination of all levels and it is a setback when these things happen.“
“It’s far too easy to spout hate casually on these social media platforms. I am concerned about it. The social media companies, are they ever going to stop someone casually putting up what someone did against Tammy? That’s their responsibility.”
The anti-racism organisation Kick It Out described the social media abuse as “predictable, but no less disgusting.”
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