Harry Maguire has called on social media companies such as Twitter and Instagram to act after his Manchester United team-mate Paul Pogba was subjected to online racist abuse.
Pogba became the third black player to face online abuse in a week for missing a penalty, having seen an effort saved in United’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Reading’s Yakou Meite have suffered similar treatment online after missing spot-kicks in the last seven days. United described the abuse of Pogba as “disgusting”.
Several of Pogba’s team-mates posted messages of support, with Maguire calling on the social media platforms themselves to introduce identification checks ina bid to stamp out abuse.
“Disgusting,” Maguire tweeted. “Social media need to do something about it... Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people.”
Marcus Rashford, the United striker, also told Twitter: “Enough now, this needs to stop... Manchester United is a family. @paulpogba is a huge part of that family. You attack him you attack us all.”
United said that they are “working to identify” those involved and promised to “take the strongest course of action available to us”.
“The individuals who expressed these views do not represent the values of our great club and it is encouraging to see the vast majority of our fans condemn this on social media also.
“Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our #AllRedAllEqual initiative.”
