Crystal Palace's Patrick van Aanholt racially abused on Instagram after Manchester United draw

ByReuters

Updated 04/03/2021 at 12:25 GMT

The Dutch defender shared the comments he was sent on social media after the 0-0 Premier League draw with United on Wednesday night. Van Aanholt made the comment "why we kneel" along with a screengrab of the message, which appeared to criticism him for not scoring after putting a bet on him to do so. It is understood the offending account has now been taken down.

Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt received racist abuse on Instagram after the draw with Manchester United

Image credit: Getty Images

Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt has shared a message of racial abuse he received on social media after their 0-0 Premier League draw with Manchester United.

The Dutch international tweeted "Why we kneel..." with a photo of the racist messages he received on Instagram after the goalless draw at Selhurst Park, where he missed a good chance in the 90th-minute.

The comments appeared to criticise him for that, and hinted that the offender may have put a bet on him to score. It is understood the account has now been removed by parent company Facebook.

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Players in the Premier League have been taking a knee before matches since July, initially in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement before the Premier League and English Football League linked the gesture to their own anti-racism campaigns.

Manchester United trio Axel Tuanzebe, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, Chelsea's Reece James, West Bromwich Albion's Romaine Sawyers, Southampton's Alex Jankewitz and Arsenal's Willian and Eddie Nketiah have all been victims of online racist abuse in recent months.

The increase in online abuse of players has prompted English soccer bodies to put pressure on social media companies to tackle the problem.

Instagram has announced measures to deal with online abuse, including removing accounts of people who send abusive messages, and developing new controls to help reduce the abuse people see.

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