The ex wife of former Liverpool footballer Djibril Cisse has revealed his children have been targeted with racist abuse.
Jude Cisse said sons Cassius, 13, and Prince, 11 - both aspiring footballers themselves - were targeted in a string of social media messages.
The abuse was said to include a reference to a match where rival fans hurled bananas at their father, while another message included a racial slur alongside laughing emojis.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Ms Cisse said: "The abuse my boys have suffered is beyond belief. What kind of sick individual would target a child like that? It has left them talking about the colour of their skin and feeling different."
Describing the messages as "horrendous", she told how she was "utterly horrified" by the online attacks - but wanted to speak out to send a "clear message that racism and online abuse is not, and will never be, acceptable".
Cheshire Police is said to be investigating whether a racially aggravated public order offence has been committed.
It comes amid a series of incidents of racist abuse in football as the issue remains firmly under the spotlight.
On Saturday, West Ham vowed to ban a group of supporters filmed engaging in anti-Semitic chanting prior to a Premier League match at Manchester United, while earlier in the week a video emerged which included a racially abusive chant about Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
Last month, monkey chants were aimed at England players during a Euro 2020 qualifier away to Montenegro, after which Tottenham defender Danny Rose said he was looking forward to retiring from a game which has done too little to tackle the problem.
