Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has called on social media companies to introduce stricter verification processes for accounts after team-mate Paul Pogba was racially abused online during last night’s draw at Wolves.
Pogba, who missed what would have been a decisive penalty during the second half, had racist tweets directed at him on Twitter, the third footballer in the past week to suffer such abuse.
The Old Trafford club said it was “disgusted” by the abuse, adding: “The individuals who expressed these views do not represent the values of our great club and it is encouraging to see the vast majority of our fans condemn this on social media also.
“Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our #AllRedAllEqual initiative. We will work to identify the few involved in these incidents and take the strongest course of action available to us. We also encourage social media companies to take action in these cases.”
Maguire, United’s new £80m signing from Leicester, then went further on Twitter by saying that Twitter and Instgram accounts should be forced to verify themselves with a passport or a driving licence.
He said: “Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it… Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people.”
