Portsmouth investigating racist Snapchat messages shared among U18 team

The club announced an investigation on Wednesday

An onslaught of racial abuse has circulated online since England's defeat at the hands of Italy on Sunday, with numerous Black players receiving horrific abuse online. On Wednesday, Portsmouth Football Club announced that they are investigating a series of racist Snapchat messages that began circulating in a group chat containing the club's under-18 players. The abhorrent messages used racial epithets, employed emojis to make harmful stereotypes, and referenced players being lynched. Portsmouth have now released a statement. https://twitter.com/calcio_danny/status/1415105682190241793

The statement reads:

"Portsmouth Football Club are aware of images circulating on social media that allegedly originate from an academy u18 group chat and which are discriminatory in nature. "The club have launched an immediate investigation and will provide an update once this has been completed. "Portsmouth Football Club strongly condemn racism and are totally committed to the elimination of all forms of discrimination. There is no place for it in our game or society as a whole." The leaked group chat is just the latest example of racist abuse in the aftermath of England's exit from the Euros. A Savills real-estate agent was suspended over tweets he sent, with a full police investigation launched. On Tuesday came the news that a youth football coach in his 50s had been arrested by police over a racist tweet sent to Rashford. Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are among the plethora of politicians to speak on the manner. However, their refusal to condemn supporters who chose to boo when players took the knee led to Tyrone Mings quickly calling out Patel after she tweeted her disgust at the racist abuse players received. https://twitter.com/OfficialTM_3/status/1414655312074784785 "You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against happens," he replied on Twitter. A mural of Marcus Rashford was defaced less than an hour after the game finished. Many football fans, from inside and outside the local community rallied around the artwork to not only restore it but fill it with loving tributes to the Manchester United player.