Spurs call for action after ‘utterly reprehensible’ abuse towards Son Heung-min

Tottenham have called for social media companies to take action after Son Heung-min was subjected to “utterly reprehensible” racist abuse online.

The abuse occurred during Sunday’s 2-0 victory over West Ham, during which substitute Son scored the home side’s second goal just four minutes after coming on.

Following the match, Spurs posted on Twitter: “We have been made aware of the utterly reprehensible online racist abuse directed at Heung-Min Son during today’s match, which has been reported by the club.

“We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action.”

The Football Association replied to Tottenham’s tweet with a similar call for action later on Sunday evening.

“We strongly condemn the racist abuse aimed at Son Heung-min this evening,” read an FA tweet.

“This has no place in our game and we fully support the authorities and social media companies to take the strongest possible action to tackle it.”

Anti-racism group Kick It Out earlier this month demanded “meaningful reforms” after Brentford striker Ivan Toney was subjected to racial abuse on Instagram.

The abuse occurred after Toney’s controversial equaliser against Arsenal, which should have been ruled out by VAR for offside against team-mate Christian Norgaard.

Toney revealed in October last year that he had been targeted on Instagram after scoring both goals in a 2-0 league victory over Brighton.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, condemned the abuse at the time, but said it could not take take action because the message had not been reported within the app.

Police were called in and Antonio Neill, 24, of Robert Street, Blyth, Northumberland, admitted a charge of sending an offensive message to Toney at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court in January.