Manchester United have suspended three season ticket holders and two members over their alleged abuse of the Tottenham forward Son Heung-min.
Ahead of the 81-hour social media boycott by sports bodies over the bank holiday weekend, United confirmed they have instigated sanctions against six individuals alleged to have abused Son following United's 3-1 win at Tottenham on April 11.
Edinson Cavani had a goal disallowed after the referee Chris Kavanagh retrospectively decided Scott McTominay had fouled Son, who United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer accused of exaggerating the contact. Son then scored to give Spurs a 1-0 half-time lead.
United said: "Regretfully, suspensions have been issued, subject to appeal, to three season ticket holders, two official members and one individual on the season ticket waiting list.
"This disciplinary action demonstrates the club’s commitment to the fight against discrimination on many fronts. It follows the launch of United’s anti-discrimination campaign, SEE RED, earlier this month. SEE RED called on fans to celebrate the contribution of the club’s Black and Asian players and to report discriminatory behaviour."
United have also published startling statistics from their own research that highlight the rise in abuse of football players and figures on social media.
Since September 2019, there has been a 350% increase in abuse directed towards United players, who have been targeted with 3,300 posts.
The club has found 86% of the posts were racist, while 8% were homophobic or transphobic. The activity peaked in January 2021 with over 400 abusive player posts recorded in a month where Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial were racially abused following United's 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield United.
The vast majority of racist posts contained either the 'n' word or emojis used with racist intent, such as a monkey, chimp, banana and gorilla.
United managing director Richard Arnold said: “We have been actively campaigning against discrimination for some time through our All Red All Equal initiative. The level of support we have received for this work from our fans has been hugely encouraging but these figures show that despite that, the level of abuse our players and fans receive is on the up.
"It must be said that while these numbers are shocking, they do only represent a 0.01% of conversations that take place on social media about the club and the players.
"By taking part in this boycott this weekend, we, alongside the rest of English football, want to shine a light on the issue. It will generate debate and discussion and will raise awareness of the levels of abuse our players and our fans receive."
The boycott starts from 3pm on Friday until 11.59pm on Monday.
