Sky Sports supports PFA’s anti-racism #Enough campaign
Written by News on 19/04/2019
Sky Sports has backed the PFA’s anti-racism campaign #Enough by embarking on 24 hours of silence on social media.
The players’ union launched the campaign to increase the pressure on social media companies and football authorities to take stronger action when responding to racist abuse.
Players have been encouraged to boycott all forms of social media between 9am on Friday, April 19, to 9am on Saturday, April 20, in response to the increased level of racist abuse aimed at players.
Dozens of professional footballers and clubs have voiced their support for the campaign by sending out messages across their social media platforms.
Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Wilfried Zaha, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jermain Defoe, Yannick Bolasie, Gareth Bale and England Women’s captain Steph Houghton are among the ever-increasing number of those who have retweeted their support.
And Sky Sports has also halted its social media operations for 24 hours in support of the PFA’s campaign to tackle racism.
The campaign comes in the wake of a series of incidents of online racism, including the abuse of United defender Smalling following his side’s Champions League quarter-final defeat in Barcelona this week.
“Throughout my career I have developed a thick skin against verbal abuse, justifying it as just ‘part of the game’, but the time has come for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to consider regulating their channels,” Smalling said.
Tottenham and England defender Danny Rose added: “I don’t want any future players to go through what I’ve been through in my career.
“Collectively, we are simply not willing to stand by while too little is done by football authorities and social media companies to protect players from this disgusting abuse.”
Simone Pound, Head of Equalities at the PFA, said: “Football has the power to do so much good in the world. We must always try to use the sport’s popularity and influence to make positive change.”
(c) Sky News 2019: Sky Sports supports PFA’s anti-racism #Enough campaign
