Kyle Walker-Peters suffers racial abuse after Man United draw

Southampton announced it is in contact with law enforcement after Kyle Walker-Peters reported racial abuse following the Saints’ scoreless draw against Manchester United on Sunday. Abuse rolled in online after the game that saw United drop points for a second-straight game, and Southampton get a crucial draw.

The focal point of the racial abuse stems from Kyle Walker-Peters making a hard tackle on Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho. The young Argentine talent marauded down the left side, where Walker-Peters plays right back. In search of an equalizer, Garnacho, who was a second-half substitute, tried to speed past the English defender. However, Walker-Peters placed a perfectly timed challenge. Unfortunately, his trailing leg caught Garnacho precariously, twisting the forward’s ankle. United fans wanted a penalty due to the severity of the challenge.

While Garnacho did attempt to continue, the injury eventually forced a substitution after just 15 minutes on the pitch.

Worse off, Southampton reports that this is the second time it made a public statement against racial abuse following a game against Manchester United. The previous instance was just over two years ago in February 2021. The club criticized both the culprits of the racial abuse and the social media platforms for allowing this to continue.

“We can only hope that they finally pay attention to what continues to be a major problem and that we do not find ourselves repeating these words in another two years time,” read the club statement.

Racial abuse not just for Walker-Peters this season

Despite the ‘efforts’ of the ‘no to racism’ campaigns and the kneeling before kickoffs, hooligans and racism are still rife throughout the sport. Moreover, it is not select to one league. The racial abuse incident regarding Kyle Walker-Peters is the latest in the Premier League. However, similar abuse hit Son Heung-min just a month ago. Before that, Ivan Toney received abuse following a draw between Arsenal and Brentford.

Both of those, as well as the Walker-Peters abuse, came online via social media.

Elsewhere in Europe, the racism directed at Real Madrid star Vinícius is appalling. In fact, LaLiga filed its seventh legal complaint against racist abuse directed solely at the Brazilian. That was just a couple days ago.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Sportimage