This archive report was first published on 21 August 2019.
Published on August 21, 2019, England women's manager Phil Neville believes football players should boycott social media in the wake of Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba becoming the latest high-profile figure to suffer racist abuse online.
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire also called on social media giants Twitter and Instagram to be more proactive in stopping 'pathetic trolls'.
"I think we probably have to take drastic measures now as a football community - I've had it with my players on social media, the Premier League stars and the Championship have had it," said Neville.
"I just wonder whether as a football community we come off social media. Because Twitter won't do anything about it, Instagram won't do anything about it - they send you an email reply saying they'll investigate but nothing happens," Neville added.
Manchester United said they were 'disgusted' by the abuse, and the club has zero tolerance for any form of racism or discrimination.
"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," the club said in a statement.
Many commentators argued that Pogba should have let Marcus Rashford take the vital penalty at Molineux after the England international scored from the spot against Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season.
However, Rashford also showed his public support for Pogba, saying "Manchester United is a family. @paulpogba is a huge part of that family. You attack him you attack us all..."
