Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham has labelled racist abuse on social media abuse as English football's “biggest problem” in football.Venkatesham also added that online racism is becoming normalised, amid growing calls for enhanced regulation from the likes of Facebook and Twitter.
“Football, the players, and social media companies need to come together to solve this because this is a moment in time.Last month the Premier League said the tech companies "need to do more", calling for "swifter removal of offensive messages and improved identification and banning of offenders."But Venkatesham's comments came on the same morning that Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah became the latest Premier League star to be racially abused on social media.
Research earlier this week also showed that a number of Arsenal's star names, including captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, long-serving full-back Hector Bellerin and former skipper Granit Xhaka, have all been subjected to racist and homophobic abuse by Twitter users - including season ticket holders at the Emirates Stadium.
Venkatesham was also highly critical of the social media platforms for their potency when dealing with match footage in comparison to the issue of racism.