Rangers: "We stand firmly behind our players who have taken a knee prior to recent games"
Monday 20 July 2020 13:12, UK
Rangers say the racist abuse aimed at their forward Alfredo Morelos "must be condemned by everyone in Scottish football and society as a whole".
Police Scotland are investigating an incident which occurred at the weekend when the 24-year-old was streaming a live video on Instagram, during which other users of the site could post comments.
Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson released a message on Monday, in which he hit out at the abuse Morelos received.
Robertson also addressed some of the reaction to the Govan side's decision to take the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, before Veolia Trophy wins over Lyon and Nice in France.
Defender Connor Goldson insists Gers players were left hurting by comments on social media from those who opposed the show of solidarity.
Robertson said: "Alfredo Morelos was the victim of racist abuse via social media on Friday evening. This hate crime is now subject of a police investigation.
"This is unacceptable, cannot be tolerated and must be condemned by everyone in Scottish football and society as a whole.
"Furthermore, as a club, we stand firmly behind our players who have taken a knee prior to recent games. This is a strong stance against racism.
"We will work tirelessly to protect our players every single day and will not tolerate the abuse or hatred that some have had to endure in recent days.
"To be clear, if you are unable to support our players, regardless of their background, you are not welcome at Ibrox.
"Rangers is a club for all. 'Everyone Anyone', our groundbreaking diversity and inclusion initiative, celebrates its first anniversary on Wednesday.
"Recent incidents highlight the importance of our campaign which we will continue to drive forward."
