Manchester United's Marcus Rashford exposes racist abuse on social media after Europa League loss

Simon Borg

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Manchester United's Marcus Rashford exposes racist abuse on social media after Europa League loss image

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford said he was subjected to a slew of racial slurs on his social media accounts following his club's Europa League final loss to Villarreal.

He shared a post on Twitter detailing that he encountered "at least 70 racial slurs on my social accounts." In a separate post, he indicated that one of the abusers was a teacher. 

Manchester United issued a statement condemning the abuse: "Following the [Europa League] final, our players were subjected to disgraceful racist abuse. If you see any form of abuse or discrimination, act and report it."

English Premier League players have worked to raise public awareness around the persistent racist abuse and discrimination they endure on social media platforms. In January, Rashford went public with a similar incident.

This month, the Premier League, its clubs and players joined a boycott of the social media platforms for a full weekend, demanding accountability and action from the companies that oversee them.

Rashford started the Europa League final and was one of the 10 Manchester United players who converted his penalty kick during the decisive shootout. He also stepped up and spoke to the media following the heartbreaking defeat.  

Simon Borg

Simon Borg Photo

Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.