Chelsea manager sceptical over Twitter 'charm offensive' following meeting between social media platform and FA

Frank Lampard and other football leaders have expressed cynicism over Twitter's "charm offensive" with the Premier League and governing bodies in the wake of racist troll attacks.

The social media organisation met officials from the Football Association, England's top tier and the EFL on Friday, the latest in a string of meetings with sporting figures to discuss the surge of recent abuse against players.

While the FA described the summit as "productive and positive", two sources who attended previous meetings expressed dissatisfaction that no firm pledges had been offered. One told Telegraph Sport that the website is refusing to accept it should launch identification checks on new accounts. "It's a charm offensive but there doesn't seem to be any clear plan to eradicate the problem," he said.

Lampard, the Chelsea manager, was also openly sceptical on learning of Twitter's meeting with governing bodies. Chelsea's Tammy Abraham and Kurt Zouma have all been targeted on social media platforms in recent weeks.

"I don't know if that's progression," Lampard said of the meetings. "I think progression is any action, so maybe it's action to talk but I think when you look at the social media platforms, the ball's in their court.

"People shouldn't be allowed to hide behind another name. Another persona, another whatever, and say anything about anyone and the levels we've been seeing recently that goes across the board, not just Tammy. Lots and lots of things said about players, people in the spotlight, day-in day-out and I can't stand it. It's not right so let's see what the action is from their end."

Manchester United's Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford have also been targeted in recent weeks, prompting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to demand action.

An FA statement said: "The meeting was productive and positive, and gave both the football authorities and Twitter an opportunity to examine some of the specific issues around this unacceptable behaviour both online and offline. All parties agreed to take these constructive discussions forward."

Twitter's most recent report says it took action against seven per cent of reported cases of abuse or hateful conduct. Earlier this month the website said it had "taken action" on "more than 700 examples of hateful conduct" in the two weeks after several Premier League players were abused. "This vile content has no place on our service," it said.

Earlier this month Twitter told the charity Kick it Out that it would support its "specific campaigning work around football-related online discrimination".

The charity responded in a statement by saying the website must show "decisive leadership and deliver concrete action for change", adding "we expect to see that in the weeks and months ahead.”

Twitter have been contacted for comment.