‘Educate Yourself and Your Kids’ – Fofana and Mejbri Racially Abused

Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri and Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana have spoken out on social media after both were sent racist abuse following the clubs’ Premier League match on Saturday.

Chelsea’s French defender Fofana, who was sent off for a second yellow card in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, shared several screenshots of private messages he received on Instagram after the game.

He then posted a message which read: “2026, it’s still the same thing, nothing changes. These people are never punished.

“You create big campaigns against racism, but nobody actually does anything.”

Earlier Burnley’s Tunisia international Mejbri shared an image of an offensive message on Instagram and in another post wrote: “It’s 2026 and there are still people like that. Educate yourself and your kids, please.”

Chelsea said they were “appalled and disgusted” by the “vile” abuse, saying it was “abhorrent and will not be tolerated”.

In a statement they added: “Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and runs counter to the values of the game and everything we stand for as a club. There is no room for racism.

“We stand unequivocally with Wes. He has our full support, as do all our players who are too often forced to endure this hatred simply for doing their job. We will work with the relevant authorities and platforms in identifying the perpetrators and take the strongest possible action.”

Burnley said they were “disgusted” by the abuse, adding in a statement: “The club has reported the post to Instagram’s parent company, Meta, and expects strong support from them, together with the Premier League and the police, and will work to ensure that the individual responsible is identified and investigated.

“There is no place for this in our society and we condemn it unreservedly.

“The club continues to be unequivocal in its stance – we have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination.

“Hannibal will receive the full backing from the club and from the Burnley fans, who we have already seen condemning the abuse. There is no room for racism.”

They are the latest incidences of racist abuse towards players this season and come days after the alleged racial abuse of Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr during a Champions League match against Benfica, which Uefa is investigating.

‘Social media companies must do more’

The Premier League has condemned the abuse and said “any individuals identified and found guilty of discrimination will face the strongest possible consequences, including club bans and legal prosecution”.

Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out said they “stood alongside” Fofana and Mejbri but that more must be done to combat racial abuse online.

“Football is working together to tackle this issue alongside the UK Football Policing Unit and Ofcom, but social media companies must do more to offer protections to players and help improve accountability when incidents occur,” they said.

A spokesperson for Meta told BBC Sport: “No-one should be subjected to racist abuse, and we remove this content when we find it.

“No one thing will stop racist behaviour overnight, but we’ll continue working to protect our community from abuse and cooperate with police investigations.”

Last November, a BBC investigation found that more than 2,000 extremely abusive social media posts – including death and rape threats – were sent about managers and players in the Premier League and Women’s Super League in a single weekend.

In August, the season opening Premier League game between Liverpool and Bournemouth was stopped in the first half after then Cherries forward Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused by someone in the Anfield crowd.

A Liverpool man has denied the abuse and his trial is scheduled to take place in April.

In January, Newcastle United said they had contacted the police after midfielder Joe Willock was the subject of “disgusting” racial abuse and “deeply disturbing threats” on social media.

Tottenham forward Mathys Tel was the subject of racist abuse on social media after being one of two Spurs players to miss in their Super Cup penalty shootout defeat by Paris St-Germain in August.

England defender Jess Carter was also the target of racist abuse during Euro 2025 in July.

And England internationals Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all subjected to racism in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final.

Source: BBC