Marcus Rashford has replied to a supportive post on X, saying he has been suffering abuse “for months” and that “enough is enough”.
The Manchester United and England forward was commenting on a post by @UtdParadigm, which read: “The way Marcus Rashford is being treated is absolutely disgusting. It’s cruel. It’s abuse.”
The player agreed that “it is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough”.
Rashford has frequently been targeted online since becoming a United regular, not least this season, as the Red Devils have struggled for consistency under manager Erik ten Hag.
In January, the 26-year-old was left out of United’s squad for an FA Cup tie, three days after he was reportedly seen at a nightclub in Belfast.
Two years ago, a teenager was jailed for six weeks for racially abusing Rashford after England’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final, held at Wembley in July 2021.
Justin Lee Price pleaded guilty to “one count of sending a grossly offensive message” after the striker missed a penalty in England’s shootout heartache against Italy.
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In September 2021, another man was sentenced for posting racist and insulting comments on his Facebook page about Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after they missed penalties in the shootout.
The abuse the players suffered sparked widespread condemnation and led to an outpouring of support for the trio.
Earlier that year, in May, Rashford said he had received “at least 70 racial slurs” online following United’s defeat on penalties to Spanish side Villarreal in the Europa League final.
United said more of their players were targeted online after that game in Gdansk.
Rashford had also been racially abused online in January 2021 following a 0-0 draw between United and Arsenal in the Premier League.
After that game, Rashford tweeted “humanity and social media at its worst” and urged social media companies to take stronger action to stop racist abuse, asking them to immediately delete the accounts of those responsible.
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A FIFA report published in June 2022 looked at abuse aimed at players on social media at the previous year’s European Championship and Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. The most abused players in the Euro 2020 final were understood to be Rashford and Saka, with the majority of attacks coming from home fans.
In 2020, Rashford led a successful campaign to persuade ministers to provide food vouchers worth £15 a week for disadvantaged children over the summer.
Later that year, the scheme was extended to cover the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks in 2021, again at Rashford’s urging.
