Wilfried Zaha: Premier League star targeted by racist abuse on social media

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Zaha, who scored in the sixth minute of the game to help his team win, shared screenshots of several racist messages he had received on the verified story of his Instagram account, preceded by a post where he explained why he wanted to share the abuse with his 1.1 million subscribers.

“This message is not for me to receive a million messages saying that we are by your side and that it is disgusting or that I am receiving sympathy,” he said. “I’m not here for all the nonsense that is done instead of solving the real problem!”

“I don’t mind abusing because today it just did the job I do even if it’s not an excuse but my color will always be the real problem but it’s okay because I will always be BLACK AND PROUD !”

“Talk to me when you really are [sic] take this problem seriously [sic],” he added.

Zaha had previously told CNN about the abuse online, saying he was “afraid” to open Instagram because of the volume of racist messages he was receiving.

The social media platform recently launched a new tool that it claims would automatically filter out abusive posts from accounts that users didn’t know about.

Instagram did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

In September, Romelu Lukaku, another Premier League player, told CNN that social media CEOs need to meet with football stars to eliminate abuse that players are subjected to online.

“I have to fight,” Lukaku told CNN’s Amanda Davies at the time. “Because I’m not just fighting for myself. I’m fighting for my son, for my future kids, for my brother, for all the other players and their kids, you know, for everyone.”

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