Chelsea defender Reece James has deleted his Instagram account just weeks after revealing the scale of racist abuse he was being subjected to on the platform.
At the end of January, the England international shared a racist string of messages he’d received and wrote: “Something needs to change!”
James, who has previously called on social media companies to take a more proactive role in protecting athletes from racist abuse, has now appeared to delete his account.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was “appalled” by the abuse and wrote a personal letter to the club’s first-team squad pledging to provide additional support in the club’s anti-racism efforts.
“I am appalled by the racist abuse targeted at Reece on social media,” he wrote. “Racism has no place in our club nor in our society. Our club is committed to fighting racism, antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.
“It shocks me that only days after we commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day, we as a society do not seem to have learned the lessons of our shared past and the consequences that hate and discrimination can have.
“We cannot allow this to continue unchecked. I have therefore directed the board to further increase the club’s efforts in this area and I will personally direct more funds towards this important work.
“Rest assured we will play a leading role in this vital work and demonstrate that football is a sport that is open to all.”
James is one of several players to be subjected to racist abuse this season, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe, along with Lauren James - Reece’s sister - among those players to be targeted at Manchester United.
After Rashford urged social media companies to do more, Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, wrote: “More shocking revelations from @MarcusRashford on the scale of racist abuse online. That’s why I organised a round-table with footballers on Monday to discuss how we can use the upcoming Online Harms legislation to tackle this scourge. We must not and will not tolerate this.”
The government are said to have promised a “zero tolerance” approach as they attempt to hold individuals and social media companies to account as part of the Online Harms Bill, which will be presented to Parliament this year.
