Troy Deeney disables comments on Instagram after family targeted by racists
Watford’s Troy Deeney has disabled the comments on his Instagram account after revealing he and his family had being targeted with racial abuse on the social media platform.
The 30-year old striker took aim at “small minded people” who left abusive comments on his pictures celebrating the Hornets’ dramatic extra time FA Cup semi final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Deeney scored Watford’s added-time equaliser from the penalty spot as his side fought back from 2-0 down to eventually beat the Midlanders to reach their first FA Cup final since 1984.
However, following the alleged abuse he received, Deeney posted the Premier League’s ‘No room for racism’ logo and revealed he will no longer allow people to comment on his activity.
“Due to events from the last 24 hours I will be taking comments off my posts,” he wrote. “To me this isn’t a game, when you racially abuse my family or myself I have to take measures to prevent young people seeing these comments and thinking that it’s acceptable, And having to expose people I care about to these small minded people.”
A post shared by t_deeney (@t_deeney) on Apr 8, 2019 at 8:22am PDT
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This latest incident comes after a week when racism is once again a major talking point in football.
A man has been arrested following offensive messages directed at Wigan’s Nathan Byrne, while a Brentford season ticket holder was also detained by police following abuse directed at Derby midfielder Duane Holmes.
There were also reported incidents involving Northampton Town players at Notts County and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha also highlighted an abusive message he received on social media.
Last week, Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose said he ‘cant wait to retire’ from the game due to the authorities’ failure to do enough to fight the problem.
Meanwhile, his England teammate Raheem Sterling has said players shouldn’t walk off during matches as it would allow the racists to win.
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