Sheffield United say they will be working with authorities to identify an individual who sent racist abuse to striker David McGoldrick.
The 32-year-old Irish forward was targeted via Instagram Direct Messages after scoring twice in his side’s 3-0 victory over Chelsea in the Premier League.
McGoldrick posted a screenshot of the message with the caption “2020 and this is life”, and the Blades say that such behaviour cannot be allowed to continue.
“As a club we will support David McGoldrick and will do all we can to find the perpetrator of this disgusting message,” the club posted on Twitter.
“We will work with the relevant authorities to ensure the person behind this post is brought to justice.
“This cannot continue. Something needs to change.”
The messages to McGoldrick came to light after Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha had also reported receiving a string of racist abuse over Instagram.
West Midlands Police arrested a 12-year-old boy in relation to the incident, which Palace manager Roy Hodgson called “cowardly and despicable”.
WM Police said: “We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy.
“The 12-year-old boy from Solihull has been taken to custody. Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won’t be tolerated.”
While these individual incidents have been highlighted, such behaviour on social media is far from uncommon and questions will again be raised about platforms allowing it to continue.
In June, Watford captain Troy Deeney called on social media outlets to do more.
“Even now, as a footballer I’ve experienced many types of racism,” Deeney told the Guardian.
“Whether that’s abuse on the field or from the crowd, it’s never easy to deal with, but social media is now the biggest platform for these cowards to share and target their hate.
“People are abused daily on these sites and it’s not OK. We have to call on social media platforms, governments and society to do more.
“If we can’t impact change in this current climate we never will. We need to change people’s mindsets, old and young.”