Aston Villa and England defender Tyrone Mings has revealed he has been subjected to racist abuse on social media.
The centre-back posted a screenshot on his Twitter account on Friday of a message from an Instagram user which called him a “f****** n*****” and said “leave the football f****** pig”.
Mings tweeted: “Another day in the life of social media with no filter… Please don’t feel sorry for us, just stand side by side in the fight for change. Social media isn’t getting any safer without it.”
England were quick to throw their support behind the centre-back following the latest instance of in a long list of professional footballers being racially abused online, with Marcus Rashford, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Raheem Sterling among those also targeted in recent months.
A post on England’s official Twitter account read: “We are running out of ways to say this: stop racially abusing people online. It is simply not acceptable. We’re with you, @OfficialTM_3.”
Mings admitted at the start of April a social media blackout could be a way to force more action during an interview with Sky Sports.
Former Arsenal and Barcelona forward Thierry Henry recently shut down his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts due to the platforms being “too toxic to ignore”.
Sky Bet Championship Swansea and Birmingham ended week-long social media boycotts on Thursday while Rangers players and staff were also involved in a similar boycott in support of Glen Kamara and Kemar Roofe.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson revealed on Wednesday he may close his social media accounts due to continued abuse directed at his team-mates and fellow professionals.
Anti-discrimination body Kick It Out have stated they would support any Premier League-wide boycott, amid reports English top-flight clubs were considering such a move.
Villa defender Mings was also racially abused in Bulgaria at the end of 2019 on his England debut.
The Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia was halted on two occasions after racist abuse from the crowd towards the centre-back and some of his international colleagues was reported to the match officials.
The PA news agency has contacted Instagram for a comment.
