Manchester United to take 'the strongest possible action' following racial abuse of Ashley Young

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The club is working to identify the social media users who racially abused the defender

Manchester United will take "the strongest possible action" against individuals who made racially abusive comments about Ashley Young on social media.

Discriminatory posts targeting the full-back and appearing to be from United fans emerged on Twitter following the Champions League quarter-final loss to Barcelona on Tuesday.

England international Young played the full match as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side slumped to a 3-0 defeat that ended their European campaign.

"Manchester United utterly condemns racist social media comments posted around yesterday's Champions League fixture," a club spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"We are working to identify individuals involved and we will take the strongest possible action we can against them.

"There is no place for racism within our game, or in society as a whole, and we are committed to working to make football free from all forms of discrimination."

Anti-discriminatory group Kick It Out issued a Twitter statement calling on the social media platform to be stronger in stamping out the abuse.

A post on the organisation's account read: "Yet another black player, this time Ashley Young, targeted with racist abuse on social media after tonight's Champions League game.

"Again, we're left asking Twitter UK the same question - when will you take serious action to tackle the rampant discrimination on your platform?"

Twitter, meanwhile added: "We do not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

"Our abusive behaviour policy prohibits behaviour which attempts to harass, intimidate or silence another person's voice and we take strong enforcement action if violations are found.

"Progress in this space is tough, but we are deeply committed to improving the health of the conversation on the platform.

"To this end, we are now suspending three times more abusive accounts within 24 hours after receiving a report than this time last year. We'll continue building on this work to prioritise the safety of our users."

Young, 33, has regularly captained United in Antonio Valencia's continued absence from matchday squads.

The defender has made 25 Premier League appearances for the club this season while also featuring seven times in Champions League play.

The club's next game is against Everton in the Premier League on Sunday as the Red Devils look to remain in the race for a top four spot.

2019-04-17 18:00:03

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