Raheem Sterling recently posted a picture of himself posing with his family for Instagram with the caption: "Perfect Sunday with my niece and my daughter."
While plenty of Sterling fans - and normal human beings - simply commented on the cuteness of the picture, the disgusting racist abuse that also appeared under the post is absolutely foul.
https://instagram.com/p/9iw-73povJ/
We'd rather not reprint the comments to give them any sort of platform, but believe us when we say they're bad.
Football’s equality and inclusion organisation, Kick it Out, has since reported the incident to police and released a statement condemning the abuse.
The statement reads:
"Kick It Out is appalled by the recent abuse Raheem Sterling has received on social media."The range of social media platforms available gives supporters an opportunity to interact with players directly but this kind of unacceptable abuse is becoming more and more prevalent, not only with footballers but with anyone in the public eye."Kick It Out has reported the incident to Greater Manchester Police and we have subsequently offered our support to Manchester City and Raheem."Research carried out by Kick It Out, in conjunction with Tempero and Brandwatch between August 2014 and March 2015, found there was 39,000 discriminatory posts directed towards Premier League players."
