Wolves Stand By Tolu Arokodare After Racial Abuse in Premier League
*”There is no place for racism – in football, online, or anywhere in society. We condemn this abhorrent and unlawful behaviour in the strongest possible terms”
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Super Eagles striker, Tolu Arokodare, who was the subject of racial abuse last night after he lost a penalty as his team Wolves lost 1-0 at Crystal Palace, has received the full support of his club.
Arokodare shared a number of screenshots of private racial abusive messages he received after his first-half penalty was saved.
In coming to the defense of their forward, Wolves insisted in a statement last night that there was no place for such conducts in a decent society.
“There is no place for racism – in football, online, or anywhere in society. We condemn this abhorrent and unlawful behaviour in the strongest possible terms.
“Tolu has our full and unwavering support. No player should be subjected to such hatred simply for doing their job. We stand firmly alongside him, and alongside all footballers who are forced to endure this abuse from anonymous accounts acting with apparent impunity.
“The club has reported the posts to the relevant platforms and will work with the Premier League and the authorities to help identify those responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken. We will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination,” Wolves said in the statement.
While also commenting on the racial abuse, Arokodare wrote on Instagram: “It’s still unbelievable to me that we’re playing in a time where people have so much freedom to communicate such racism without any consequences.
“These individuals should have no place in our game and collectively we have to take action to punish everyone who taints the sport like this, no matter who they are,” Arokodare wrote on his Instagram page.
The Nigerian striker is the third player of African descent to be racially abused this past weekend in the English Premier League. The other two include: Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri and Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana who were both targeted with racist abuse on Instagram. Both cases came up after Chelsea drew 1-1 with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
