Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out, based in England, was one of the first to report the abuse to the Greater Manchester Police Monday evening, and the department confirmed to The Guardian that it is looking into the incident.
The complaint was based on two separate tweets of “racist nature” in response to Touré’s first post after returning from a Twitter break to focus on the sport, which congratulated his team on a recent win over Manchester United, according to a statement released by Kick It Out.
Great to be back on twitter after a good win yesterday. Now my focus is on the next game… Happy Monday everyone!!
— Yaya Touré (@YayaToure) November 3, 2014
“Yaya Touré has been back on Twitter for a matter of hours and he has already received abuse of an appalling nature,” a Kick It Out spokesperson said in a press release. “We are disturbed by the fact that someone can be treated this way. It makes footballers start to question why they should use these platforms.”
Internet trolls can face much more severe penalties in Britain than in the United States, and the penalties may get even harsher. A proposed law currently making its way through Parliament would increase the maximum prison sentence for cyber-abuse from six months to two years.
Online abusers who have attacked British athletes, such as diving star Tom Daley and soccer player Carlton Cole, were later arrested for the harassment.
At least two of the abusive tweets apparently came from accounts with the handles, “@IconicLamps” and “@CFCZone,” which have both since been deleted. The tweets used racial slurs, called Touré “ebola-infected” and told him to “go back to the cotton field,” according to screenshots posted by other Twitter users.
Touré addressed the trolls in a tweet posted on Tuesday, blaming the abuse on an “ignorant minority.” The 31-year-old also told BBC Sport that while he is used to hateful comments like these and has learned to deal with them, it could discourage other athletes from being active on social media.
Thanks for all the welcome back tweets and support. Shame about ignorant minority. #StillFocused
— Yaya Touré (@YayaToure) November 4, 2014
The incident highlights a pervasive problem of racism in European soccer as a whole. Touré told the BBC that he would like to see FIFA do more to combat discrimination that players face across the league.
“Football doesn’t have a colour. We’re just people from all over the world trying to enjoy the game,” Touré told the BBC. “I never see this in rugby, I never see that in tennis or anything else. I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
In April, FC Barcelona and Brazil star Dani Alves also stood up against racism within the game in a viral video in which he took a bite out of banana thrown by a fan as a racist taunt. The campaign was apparently planned ahead of time with teammate Neymar Jr.
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