Ivorian and Crystal Palace Football Club winger, Wilfried Zaha, has said black footballers are getting scared of using social media because of the increasing cases of racist abuse.
The Ivory Coast international received a racist messages, which resulted in the arrest of a 12-year-old boy in connection with the incident.
While speaking in an interview with CNN, the 27-year-old disclosed he has established a platform to help mitigate racist abuse and said blacks footballers don’t fancy being on social media anymore.
Also, he said hat he was no longer on Twitter because of sickening abuse from racists.
Zaha said: “I’ve had racial abuse all my life but it’s a thing where for right now, I’ve got a platform where I feel like if I can make a change, I’ll try.
“For black footballers for instance, being on Instagram is not even fun anymore. You’re not enjoying your profile because every time I’m scared to even look up my direct messages anymore because it could be filled with anything.
“I don’t even have Twitter on my phone anymore, because it’s almost certain that you’re going to get some sort of abuse.
He added: “I reported 50 accounts… and I got racially abused after the stuff that I got before, and it’s like what happens after that account gets blocked?
“Then they just make a new one straight after. I feel like with everything that we do in life, with everything we register to, we have to give some sort of ID, so why is it not the same with Instagram? Why is it not the same with Twitter?”
