Elijah Adebayo targeted by racist abuse. Luton Town condemn the abuse and call out cowardice for abuse via social media. "... come to Kenilworth Road and say it to his face. We dare you... You’ll be faced with everyone at Luton Town Football Club, standing side-by-side with Elijah."
Friday 25 October 2024 16:23, UK
Luton have hit out after striker Elijah Adebayo was again targeted by racist abuse on social media, asking 'is it ever going to stop?' in a strongly-worded statement.
Adebayo received a discriminatory direct message on Instagram on Wednesday night during the Hatters' 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, in which he scored his first goal of the season.
Luton shared a statement on its website and via social media channels, calling out the abuse by "faceless racists", saying the club was "angry, upset and frustrated", asking if the abuse "is ever going to stop?".
Their statement also called out the cowardice of taking to social media to abuse players, saying the perpetrator "would be faced with everyone at Luton Town Football Club, standing side-by-side with Elijah," if they "had the balls to come to Kenilworth Road and say it to his face".
Meta, Instagram's parent company, confirmed to Sky Sports News that it has since disabled the account which sent the message.
Bedfordshire Police have passed on the report of the incident to the UK Football Policing Unit and Cheshire Police, who specialise in investigating these kind of incidents.
"Our specialist Football Liaison officers work regularly with the club to support them around issues like this," the force added in a statement.
"There is no place for racism or hate crime of any kind in football or in the wider community of Bedfordshire."
This incident is the latest in a long line of abuse, both in person and online, targeting the 26-year-old. In October 2022, Luton called for the discrimination to stop after reporting three separate cases in less than a year.
The club again spoke out last October, following their 1-0 home defeat by Tottenham, when he received a series of messages via social media.
At the end of that month, the Premier League said they had received further reports of racism towards the player following a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Following the latest incident, Luton released another statement on their club website titled: "Is it ever going to stop?
"Twelve months ago Elijah Adebayo was subjected to racist abuse on social media. A wave of vile and disgusting messages pouring into his account from faceless racists.
"Fast forward a year later and it has happened again.
"At 8.28pm on Wednesday evening, an account in the UK on Instagram messaged Elijah with a racist comment.
"After Elijah notified us following last night's game with Sunderland, in which he scored his first goal of the season, we reported the incident to the Police and to Meta. It is now being investigated.
"Just like we said a year ago, and just like we will do whenever a player or staff member is subjected to abuse, we will stand by and support Elijah unequivocally.
"To the individual who cowardly dropped into Elijah's DMs: We know who you are and you know who you are. You're not a faceless account, one which we have sadly become accustomed to reporting in recent years.
"But as if you have the balls to come to Kenilworth Road and say it to his face. We dare you. If you do, you'll be faced with everyone at Luton Town Football Club, standing side-by-side with Elijah.
"Abuse of any kind is unacceptable. But does everyone know that? It's why we are doing our bit to educate everyone that racism and all forms of abuse is abhorrent and unacceptable.
"Last season, as part of the Premier League's No Room For Racism campaign, we showed members of our staff the racist and abusive messages our players have been subjected to. This is real life with real life affects."
All three of Luton's statements regarding racism against Adebayo have come during Black History Month, which aims to celebrate and commemorate the achievements of people from black backgrounds.
