Raheem Sterling: Racist trolls who attacked Manchester City player and his family on Instagram reported to police

The Manchester City player was targeted after sharing a picture of his family

Raheem Sterling scores City's first (Reuters)

An equality group has reported racist abuse posted on Raheem Sterling’s Instagram page to police.

The Manchester City footballer, who has over one million followers on Instagram, often shares pictures of his family on his page. On Sunday, he was attacked by users angered at his decision to move from his former club, Liverpool, who left racist comments underneath a picture of his niece and daughter.

His girlfriend was forced to make her page completely private earlier this year after receiving death threats and racist comments because of his transfer to Manchester City.

 

A photo posted by Raheem Sterling x  (@sterling7) on Sep 24, 2015 at 9:21am PDT

A number of his followers condemned the "disgusting" abuse. One wrote: "Get a f**king grip you absolute losers, keyboard warriors, I guarantee if Sterling were to walk past you in the street you would be begging for his autograph/photo etc! F**king throwing racist comments around is disgusting.”

Another user added: “Not into football but after reading the article about the abuse you've received on here just wanted to show support! Ignore vile keyboard cowards, you have a beautiful family. Good luck!!”

Kick it Out, a leading organisation dedicated to tackling racism and discrimination within football, said it is “appalled” by the abuse and has reported it to Greater Manchester Police.

The group said in a statement: “The range of social media platforms available gives supporters an opportunity to interact with players directly but this kind of unacceptable abuse is becoming more and more prevalent, not only with footballers but with anyone in the public eye.

“Kick It Out has reported the incident to Greater Manchester Police and we have subsequently offered our support to Manchester City and Raheem.

“Research carried out by Kick It Out, in conjunction with Tempero and Brandwatch between August 2014 and March 2015, found there was 39,000 discriminatory posts directed towards Premier League players.

“Any incident of discrimination can be reported confidentially via the Kick It Out App, which is available on Android and Apple devices.”

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police was unable to comment no whether an investigation was underway. The Independent has contacted a spokesperson for Sterling for comment.

Anyone who sees an image, an account or a comment which could cause distress can report it anonymously from the Instagram app.