Tyrone Mings reveals shocking scale of racist abuse he received after Zlatan Ibrahimovic clash Tyrone Mings has revealed the sheer scale of racist abuse that black footballers are regularly subjected to on social media. In […]

Tyrone Mings has revealed the sheer scale of racist abuse that black footballers are regularly subjected to on social media.

In a comprehensive interview with i, the Bournemouth defender has shared his own experiences of thousands of incidents of racist abuse, derogatory comments and death threats directed towards him and his family on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

“You could probably go on any black or mixed-race footballer’s Instagram or Twitter, have a look at a post that’s got considerable shares and replies and you’ll probably find something in there, if it hasn’t been deleted already, some form of racist abuse,” Mings, 24, said.

Companies must act

‘You could probably go on any black or mixed-race footballer’s Instagram or Twitter, have a look at a post that’s got considerable shares and replies and you’ll probably find racist abuse’

“When Raheem Sterling moved to Manchester City, the amount of abuse he got every time he posted a picture on Instagram or put out a tweet was frightening. If it’s that easy to post, I feel there must be something these social media platforms can do about that.

“Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it is still there and it needs to be addressed. In every other form of football, racism has been addressed and there’ve been some great organisations doing some great work — Kick It Out are trying to tackle all of these issues of discrimination in all forms.

“Social media has allowed easier access to players, easier access to celebrities, and easier access to hide behind a profile or a keyboard. It’s allowed people to have a voice, some of those people should be stopped at source rather than allowed to have that voice.”

Mings, who said the vast majority of the abuse he’s received stemmed from his altercation with Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season, added: “It definitely lies with a combination of the companies and the police. The companies because they have access to all of the data and the analytics of where these people are and what they’re sending out and what accounts they’re coming from and the authorities have the power to issue a punishment.”

Sam Cunningham’s full interview with Tyrone Mings can be read online here and in Saturday’s iWeekend