Dortmund's Bellingham racially abused on Instagram after Cologne draw

Premier League players Marcus Rashford, Reece James and Wilfried Zaha, have been racially abused online in recent months.

Published : Mar 21, 2021 10:55 IST

Dortmund's Jude Bellingham (front) and Dortmund's Nico Schulz lay on the ground at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between Cologne and Dortmund at the RheinEnergieStadion stadium in Cologne, Germany, Saturday, March 20, 2021.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham was subjected to racist abuse on Instagram following Saturday's 2-2 Bundesliga draw at Cologne.

Bellingham shared a screenshot of the racist emojis and derogatory comments about his mother sent to him, with the caption "Just another day on social media..."

Dortmund, Cologne, Bellingham's former club Birmingham City and the England national team all showed support for the 17-year-old.

Several players in the English Premier League, including Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, Chelsea's Reece James and Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, have been racially abused online in recent months.

The increase in online abuse of players has prompted English soccer bodies to put pressure on social media companies to tackle the problem.

Instagram last month announced measures to deal with online abuse, including removing accounts of people who send abusive messages and developing new controls to help reduce the abuse people see.