Ryan Sessegnon has thanked his Hoffenheim team-mates for their support after he revealed receiving racist abuse on social media. Hoffenheim players raised their fists after Munas Dabbur scored during their 5-0 win over Slovan Liberec in the Europa League on Thursday.
Sessegnon, who is on loan with the German club from Tottenham, was on the bench and did not play in the game. Afterwards, the England Under-21 player tweeted “my guys” and “solidarity”. In reply, Spurs said “We’re all with you, Ryan.” Sessegnon, who can play as a winger or left-back, posted an image of racist messages on his Instagram story on Monday.
The 20-year-old said he was “not even surprised any more” after receiving the racist abuse and described it as “unbelievable” and “disgusting”. The account that sent the racist messages to Sessegnon has since been removed from Instagram.
Manchester City’s England forward Raheem Sterling said last month that football authorities and social media platforms need to “step up” and “take proper action” in tackling online abuse. It followed a study by the Professional Footballers’ Association that said 43% of Premier League players experienced “targeted racist abuse”.
