Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End release statements after concerning incidents | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday and Preston have condemned the racist abuse directed at their players following their games on Easter Monday.

The Easter period is always defining in the Championship, and it has delivered once again as clubs battle for promotion and to avoid relegation.

Supporters of all clubs experienced the highs and lows that football can bring, and the games produced stunning goals, unfortunate errors, refereeing mistakes and much more.

That tension and excitement is what makes the Championship one of the best leagues in the world in terms of drama, and there’s sure to be much more to enjoy for neutrals over the next few weeks during the run-in.

Sheffield Wednesday and Preston players subject to racist abuse

However, there has been some concerning fallout following the Easter Monday fixtures in the Championship, as Sheffield Wednesday and Preston have released statements rightly condemning racist abuse directed at their players.

Whilst the Owls didn’t disclose which individual the racism was aimed at, they shared an update on Instagram slamming the ‘disgraceful’ messages that were sent on social media.

Sadly, it was a similar story with Preston, as they confirmed that Thierry Small had been subject to racist abuse, which came after he had scored an own goal in their 1-1 draw at home to QPR.

They stated the messages had been passed on to Lancashire Police, and they will assist them as they try to carry out their investigation ahead of potentially taking action against the individual behind the abuse.

Racist messages on social media have, unfortunately, been fairly common this season. In February, Wolves’ Tolu Arokodare, Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri, Sunderland’s Romaine Mundle and Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana were all subject to abuse on the same weekend.

It’s not just restricted to social media, with a man charged with racially abusing Antoine Semenyo at Anfield back in August, whilst an arrest was made during the Tyne-Wear derby last month.

Football clubs are right to call out racist abuse

Firstly, we know that racism isn’t a football problem, and it’s a reflection of society, so it’s not a case of criticising individual clubs and thinking that will solve everything.

But, the clubs involved are right to call it out, as it will help raise the issue and make it a talking point.

Clearly, something needs to be done by social media companies to allow these messages to be sent, but that has been a complaint from those involved with sport for some time, and, for now, it doesn’t appear as though major changes have been made.

It seems far too easy for people to send any sort of abuse online anonymously from their keyboard, and, in many cases, there doesn’t appear to be much action taken in terms of punishing those who send the messages, whether it’s racist, sexist or any other form of discrimination.

So, it was a real shame to see such abuse on what is one of the highlights of the Football League calendar, but the one positive has been the support that Wednesday and Preston fans are showing to their respective players, as well as the wider football community, which is no doubt going to help those involved as they deal with this abuse.