#Enough: Football stars announce 24-hour social media boycott in protest at online racial abuse
Some of football's biggest names, including David Beckham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Gareth Bale, have put their weight behind a new social media campaign aimed at highlighting online racial abuse.
The temporary absence of some of the game's top stars from social media in a 24-hour 'boycott' was organized by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), and comes in the wake of several incidents in recent European fixtures which saw players targeted by some supporters with racist chanting and rhetoric.
Also on rt.com 'Silence the haters (I mean racists)': Sterling calls for sanctions as Montenegro charged with abuseThis has also made its way to social media, with more and more instances of players being subjected to vile abuse due to their ethnicity.
Several additional Premier League players, Tottenham's Danny Rose, Manchester United's Jesse Lingard and Arsenal's Hector Bellerin have also lent their weight to the campaign.
#EnoughWe are making a stand against racist abuse. We recognise that our platforms come with responsibility, and so we are using our voice to stand against racist abuse. Together, we are calling on social media platforms and footballing bodies to do more! pic.twitter.com/8EqNgD41BS
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) April 19, 2019
#Enough. Timeline or touchline, no one should have to face discrimination. #allredallequalpic.twitter.com/DpdB9UWfZN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 19, 2019
Manchester United also shared a video regarding the #Enough movement, showing several of their top players speaking out against what appears to be a growing culture of racism in some of Europe's top leagues.
"Football is going through a time where we are still seeing discrimination throughout our game," the video, which appeared on Manchester United's Twitter page, said.
"It is just crazy that we are still speaking about these things still today."
The PFA has encouraged players to boycott social media between 9am BST on Friday and 9am BST on Saturday.
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"We applaud the initiative of the English professional football players," FIFA said to the Associated Press. "FIFA is fully engaged in combating racism and any form of discrimination not only in football but society in general."
