Pranav Nair
11 arrested for racism against Manchester United stars Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford
According to Mirror, 11 people have been arrested for making racial slurs against Manchester United duo Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford earlier this summer.
The incident occurred following the European Championship final that saw England lose to Italy on penalties. Both Rashfored and Sancho were brought on with the shootout looming large but managed to miss their spot-kicks, handing the Azzurri the advantage.
Rather than share in their agony, some fans resorted to lambast them on social media. This saw vile racial slurs being aimed in their direction as the night quickly descended into a nightmare. An ensuring investigation has seen 11 people- 10 men and one woman- arrested on suspicion of a number of offences, including malicious communications. They were found to be in breach of section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. (h/t Mirror)
According to the report, The UK Football Policing Unit have revealed that they have more than 600 reports from across the country of which 207 were criminal in nature. 35 of those accounts originated from the United Kingdom. 123 of the 207 criminal posts belong to accounts registered overseas and their details are being passed to the authorities in the relevant countries.
The matter is, however, not closed and the police are waiting for data from social media companies on the remaining 50 account holders. Those arrested so far range in age from 18 to 63. Clearly, there is no age limit for idiocy.
Reacting to the arrests, the Football Association welcomed the action. They also called for social media websites and the government to do more in their efforts to end racism. It is unlikely to be an easy job but something that needs to be combated on a priority basis.
In this case, a police spokesman has confirmed that the trio of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all responded quickly to queries. Those arrested have all been either released under investigation pending further enquiries or bailed to return at a later date.
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Apart from the United duo, Arsenal wonderkid Bukayo Saka was also subject to racist attacks after missing the decisive penalty in the shootout. Any person who can direct such vile abuse at a teenager willing to step up and do his best for his country has no right to call themselves a fan.
