Social media abuse in German soccer follows alleged racist incidents in stadiums

MAINZ, Germany (AP) — As German soccer investigates two incidents in which players were allegedly subjected to racist abuse by fans in the stadium, more players have faced abusive messages online.

The day after its 1-0 win in a German Cup game against Dynamo Dresden, Mainz said Tuesday it plans to support its players in taking legal action against users who sent abusive messages.

The club published screenshots of a racist message targeting French winger Arnaud Nordin, who is Black, and one containing sexist and xenophobic insults aimed at the mother of German midfielder Nadiem Amiri, who is of Afghan heritage.

There are “no more words for people like this,” Amiri, who scored the game's only goal, wrote over a screenshot of the message.

“There is no place among us for racism, agitation and hate on the Internet, in the stadium, or anywhere else,” Mainz wrote.

In another incident, Rot-Weiss Essen said it disabled the comment section on an Instagram post about its 1-0 loss Monday to Borussia Dortmund following “racist hostility” aimed at its player Kelsey Owusu, who had made a tackle which left Dortmund's Yan Couto hurt.

Essen said Tuesday that Owusu had also decided to deactivate his personal Instagram page “due to many discriminatory insults.”

“We apologize to Yan Couto and wish him all the best. At the same time, we wish to make clear: a mistake on the field must never be a license for hate, agitation and racist hostility,” Rot-Weiss Essen board member Alexander Rang said in a statement. “As a club we stand clearly with our player and will continue to take a stand against racism with all our might.”

The club said Owusu had apologized to Couto on the field and again after the game, and that the club was pleased to hear the Dortmund player had not been badly injured.

The German soccer federation said Monday it was investigating two incidents in which players were allegedly subjected to racist abuse by people in the stadium during other German Cup games. FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned the incidents as “unacceptable”. Police were investigating at least one of the incidents.

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