Police are investigating racist abuse Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has faced on Twitter, after the Italian sent out a tweet which read “Man utd… LOL” following the Manchester club’s defeat at the hands of the recently promoted Leicester City.
Balotelli’s tweets raised the ire of Manchester United fans, with some particularly abhorrent individuals making racist remarks towards the 24-year-old as his comment was retweeted more than 190,000 times.
The anti-racism group Kick It Out reported the abuse aimed towards Balotelli to the police, and released a statement regarding the matter: “We extend our support to Mario Balotelli after the appalling racist abuse directed at him,” a spokesman said.
“We have since reported this via True Vision – the Police’s online reporting facility.
During the 2013-14 season, 50% of all complaints submitted to us from across the game related to social media abuse.
“The issue has been escalating and we urge fellow social media users to assist in bringing this type of abuse to the attention of the authorities.”
In May, Balotelli was the target of racist abuse during Italy’s World Cup preparations, with a mob having to be dispersed by the police. Following this incident, Balotelli’s Italian teammate Ciro Immobile said: “In 2014, we shouldn’t need to be talking about racism again.”
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