Kyle Walker, an English footballer who represents football club Manchester City, has urged social media companies, especially Meta, to help put an end to online abuse received by footballers.

Taking to social media, Walker uploaded a post stating: No one should ever be subjected to the sort of vile, racist and threatening abuse I have received online since last night's match. It is never acceptable.

Walker was referring to comments he received online after his club lost 2-0 to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League on 11 December (early hours of 12 December in India).

While Walker took to social media to share this statement, previously footballers have looked to deactivate their social media accounts instead of dealing with hate online. 

His club Man City strongly condemned the abuse in a statement: 

"We refuse to tolerate discrimination of any kind, regardless of whether that be in stadiums or online. We will be offering Kyle our full support following the disgusting treatment he has received."

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— Kyle Walker (@kylewalker2) December 12, 2024