Elanga was the victim of online racial abuse after Manchester United’s defeat to Middlesbrough
Greater Manchester Police have confirmed that they are launching an investigation after Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga was subjected to online racial abuse last week.
Elanga missed a penalty which resulted in United being knocked out by Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round at Old Trafford last Friday.
The 19-year-old was subjected to a wave of online racial abuse and GMP have since released a statement confirming that they are investigating the incident.
It read: “We can confirm that GMP are investigating an incident of racist abuse linked to a social media post which is believed to have been posted on Friday evening (4 February 2022), following the football match between Manchester United and Middlesborough FC.
“Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting crime reference number: CRI/06MM/0002216/22.”
As per the Independent, Instagram are also launching their own internal investigation into the incident and have since removed a number of comments underneath Elanga’s post.
The young United forward was shown support in the aftermath of the game last Friday, with teammate Marcus Rashford tweeting: “Anthony Elanga. Get that head of yours up immediately,” before posting a love heart emoji after the message.
Anthony Elanga. Get that head of yours up immediately ♥️
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) February 5, 2022
Players on the pitch also surrounded Elanga to offer their support to the youngster, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo speaking to the Sweden Under-21 international one-to-one to encourage him.
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