'WHY WE KNEEL'
Patrick van Aanholt racially abused as sick troll attacks Crystal Palace star after losing bet on Man Utd result
PATRICK VAN AANHOLT became the latest player to be racially abused on social media.
The full-back helped Crystal Palace to earn a 0-0 draw with Manchester United on Wednesday.
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The Dutch international, 30, shared the vile messages he had received afterwards.
He posted a shot of the abuse via his Instagram story which he captioned “Why we kneel”.
That refers to the custom of kneeling carried out by Premier League players prior to kick-off at matches this season to highlight the issue of racism.
The disgusting, X-rated missive Van Aanholt was sent branded him a ‘monkey’.
And it ranted at the defender for failing to score, referencing Palace's odds for netting the first goal in the match at Selhurst Park.
It continued an alarming trend of footballers being subjected to hate in relation to placed bets failing to come off.
Van Aanholt’s ordeal adds to the growing list of players recently abused online.
They include Chelsea pair Antonio Rudiger and Reece James as well as Manchester United’s Axel Tuanzebe.
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It heaps more pressure on the social media companies including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to do more to prevent this abhorrent practice plaguing football and society.
In a direct and no punches pulled message to Twitter chief Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, representatives of all areas of the game came together in an open letter to tell the companies that 'basic human decency' required intervention last month.
The damning letter was signed by FA chief Mark Bullingham, Prem boss Richard Masters, Gordon Taylor, EFL chief exec Trevor Birch, womens’ game leader Kelly Simmons, the LMA’s Richard Bevan, Mike Riley and Sanjay Bhandari of Kick It Out.
It said: “The language used is debasing, often threatening and illegal.
“It causes distress to the recipients and the vast majority of people who abhor racism, sexism and discrimination of any kind.
“We have had many meetings with your executives over the years but the reality is your platforms remain havens for abuse.
“Your inaction has created the belief in the minds of the anonymous perpetrators that they are beyond reach.”
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Patrick Van Aanholt gets the mower out at Crystal Palace football club in new warm up routine
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