Wales forward Rabbi Matondo hit out at Instagram after he and his team-mate Ben Cabango were racially abused following their friendly win over Mexico on Saturday.
Stoke City loanee Matondo and Swansea defender Cabango both started the 1-0 win at the Cardiff City stadium but were sent abusive messages on Instagram after the game.
Matondo tweeted a screenshot of a message from someone who had called him a ‘n*****’ and sent several monkey emojis while another user called Cabango a ‘f****** monkey’.
Wales winger Rabbi Matondo (left) and his team-mate Ben Cabango (right) were racially abused on social media following their friendly win over Mexico on Saturday
The Stoke City loanee tweeted a screenshot of the messages he receieved on Instagram
Matondo was sent several monkey emojis and called a ‘n*****’ by one social media user
The Stoke winger tweeted : ‘And it continues… another week of @instagram doing absolutely nothing about racial abuse. My insta will get taken down if I post any clips from my games though… #priorities’.
Cabango also shared an image of a message he had been sent on his Instagram story alongside the caption: ‘It’s 2021 and it’s still happening.’
Sportsmail has reached out to the FA of Wales for comment following the players’ revealing the abuse.
Cabango also shared an image of a message he had been sent on his Instagram story
Earlier this month, the UK’s football policing lead Detective Chief Constable Mark Roberts said the response of social media companies in assisting the police to identify abusers has been ‘woeful’.
At the time a spokesperson for Facebook, which also owns Instagram, said the company ‘will continue to work with the police and wider industry to collectively tackle this issue’.
The abuse of the two internationals comes after Thierry Henry announced he was stepping away from social media until the platforms start taking racism seriously.
The Arsenal legend says he will only return once companies regulate online abuse ‘with the same vigour and ferocity’ as they tackle copyright infringements.
The former striker, who recently left his role as Montreal Impact head coach, has 10 million followers on his Facebook page, along with 2.7 m on Instagram and 2.3 m on Twitter.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden responded to Henry’s announcement, reiterating the Frenchman’s call before adding that the Government are to introduce laws to make platforms accountable.
Thierry Henry announced that he will disable his social media accounts earlier this week
The Arsenal legend called on platforms to do more to combat ‘bullying and racism’
He said: ‘No one should have to switch off social media because of abuse. Social media firms must do more to tackle this and we are introducing new laws to hold platforms to account.
‘This is complex and we must get it right, but I’m absolutely determined to tackle racist abuse online.’
Several Premier League players have also been targeted with racial abuse this season.
Manchester United midfielder Fred received vile racist abuse following the FA Cup quarter-final exit to Leicester last week, in which the Brazilian made an error leading to Kelechi Iheanacho’s opener.
Red Devils team-mates Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe have also been abused online this campaign.
Rashford spoke out after being targeted following United’s game with Arsenal.
‘Humanity and social media at its worst. Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here.’
Meanwhile, Hamza Choudhury has revealed the support of his Leicester team-mates helped him cope when he received racist abuse online.
A host of stars, including Man United star Fred, have received vile racist abuse this season
Marcus Rashford spoke out after being targeted following United’s game with Arsenal
Choudhury, 23, was targeted on social media after a game against Liverpool in October 2019 and his club reported the abuse to police.
The midfielder said: ‘I took a screenshot and put it in our team group chat. Everyone was saying how disgusting it was.
‘They said they were sorry there were people like this. It made me feel instantly a lot better knowing that you’re not by yourself.’
Chelsea’s Reece James suspended his Instagram account after receiving several racist messages earlier in the season. The right back shared images of the abuse and insisted: ‘Something needs to change!’
His sister Lauren, who plays for Manchester United Women, has also been the target of racial abuse online.