Tolu Arokodari: The Wolves striker sent racist abuse on social media

“In 2026, it will still be the same, nothing has changed. These people will never be punished,” Fofana wrote on Saturday.

“You do big campaigns against racism, but no one actually does anything.”

Majbri called on people to “educate yourselves and your children.”

These latest incidents of racist abuse towards players come days after the alleged racist abuse of Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior during the Champions League match against Benfica, which is being investigated by UEFA.

The Premier League condemned the mistreatment of Fofana and Mejbri, and said: “Any individual identified and found guilty of discrimination will face the strongest possible consequences, including club bans and legal prosecution.”

Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out said it “stood by” Fofana and Mejbri, but more must be done to combat racist abuse online.

They said: “Football is working together to tackle this issue alongside the UK Football Policing Unit and Ofcom, but social media companies must do more to provide protection for players and help improve accountability when incidents occur.”

In response to Fofana and Mejbri’s abuse, a Meta spokesman told BBC Sport: “No one should be subjected to racist abuse, and we will remove this content when we find it.”

He added: “Nothing will stop racist behavior overnight, but we will continue to work to protect our community from abuse and cooperate with police investigations.”

Last November, a BBC investigation found that more than 2,000 highly offensive social media posts – including death and rape threats – were sent about managers and players in the Premier League and Women’s Super League in one weekend.

In August, Liverpool’s Premier League season opener between Liverpool and Bournemouth was stopped at half-time after then-Cherries striker Antoine Simeño reported being subjected to racist abuse by someone in the Anfield fans.

A Liverpool man has denied the abuse and is due to stand trial in April.

In January, Newcastle United said it had contacted the police after midfielder Joe Willock was subjected to “disgusting” racist abuse and “deeply disturbing threats” on social media.

Tottenham striker Matthijs Tille was subjected to racist abuse on social media after he was one of the Tottenham players who missed out on a Super Cup penalty shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain in August.

England defender Jess Carter was also the target of racist abuse during the Euro 2025 Championship in July.

England international players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were subjected to racism following the Euro 2020 final.