Raheem Sterling was subjected to racist abuse on Twitter in the wake of Manchester City’s defeat by Leeds in the Premier League on Saturday.
Top-flight leaders Man City fell behind to a Stuart Dallas strike shortly before half-time, with Leeds captain Liam Cooper sent off moments later. Ferran Torres pulled one back for City, but Dallas netted the winner in added time of the second half to seal a 2-1 result at the Etihad Stadium.
After the match, England international Sterling took to Twitter to express his disappointment with the loss, writing: “One to forget.”
At least two replies to the 26-year-old’s post contained racist messages, with those tweets soon deleted as other users condemned the abusive comments.
There have been a number of incidents of racist abuse aimed at players in the Premier League and England’s other divisions in recent months.
Championship clubs Swansea and Birmingham and Scottish champions Rangers have been among the teams to undergo social media blackouts in an attempt to discourage racism and encourage social media platforms to do more to tackle the issue.
