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Football

12th Feb 2023

Ivan Toney subjected to racist abuse again after Arsenal draw

Callum Boyle

Ivan Toney

Brentford have released a statement

Brentford have confirmed that Ivan Toney has been subjected to a series of racially abusive messages once again.

Toney equalised for the Bees as they held the league leaders Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The forward’s goal didn’t come without controversy after VAR failed to pick up the fact that Ethan Pinnock was offside in the build up, leaving Mikel Arteta and the rest of the Gunners incensed that the goal wasn’t overturned.

However Brentford have revealed that Toney received a number of abusive, racist messages to his direct messages on Instagram.

A statement from the club reminded everyone that there is “no room for racism”.

They said: “Immediately after Brentford’s game against Arsenal, Ivan Toney received a barrage of abusive, racist direct messages via his Instagram account.

“We are disgusted and saddened that Ivan has had to deal with this yet again.

“We will not tolerate it and we will do everything we can to pursue the individuals involved.

“Ivan was subject to similar abuse in October last year, and the perpetrator is now facing the consequences in court.

“How many times does this need to happen?

“We call on football fans everywhere to relish the competition and rivalry that exists between us, but to respect and embrace our differences and celebrate the diversity that exists throughout the Premier League.

“There is no room for racism.”

This isn’t the first time Toney has been subjected to racial abuse.

In October, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, claimed they were unable to take action against the account that racially abused Ivan Toney as it hadn’t been reported through their in-programme tools.

After scoring his 100th goal for the club in a 2-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion, Toney shared screenshots of a racially abusive message sent to him.

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