Racism amongst football fans is yet again rearing it’s ugly head, with some Man United players subjected vile comments on social media in midweek after Ole Gunar Solksjaer’s side were beaten by bottom of the table Sheffield United in on Wednesday.
Despite the ongoing KickItOut campaign and the Premier League teams “taking the knee” before every game, the racists still keep crawling out of the woodwork, so Arsenal have taken today’s game to remind Arsenal fans that racism is not acceptable, and the club will do their best to punish anyone that is guilty of it at the Emirates or online.
They issued this message on the Official Arsenal website….
When the teams come out of the tunnel today, we urge everyone to take a moment to consider the diverse mix of talented individuals, each with their own story and proud heritage. They come together as a team and connect us all, irrespective of race or religion.
Through Arsenal for Everyone we strive to ensure that everyone connected to the club feels an equal sense of belonging. We will continue to celebrate our diversity and use our platforms to educate others and continue our zero-tolerance approach to discrimination. We commit to using our voice and network to strengthen measures and action taken by relevant authorities to punish those responsible for this abuse.
The players you see today and those that went before them are elite athletes, icons to so many people around the world, but first and foremost they are human beings and a part of our family. This abuse affects us all. We cannot let racist and hateful abuse become a normalised part of the game.
They also followed that up with a pinned post on their Twitter page with a picture of Granit Xhaka and Alexandre Lacazette taking the knee….
Our message to football fans around the world…
✊ #UnitedAgainstRacism
✊ #ArsenalForEveryone— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 30, 2021
The crazy thing is that surely we all know that Arsenal have fans in every continent in the world and we should be completely United in following the Gunners, no matter our race or religion.
Let’s all join together and add the voice of JustArsenal readers in condemning racism in football and in every walk of life….
