Chelsea right-back Reece James has become the latest Premier League star to be targeted by racist abuse on social media.

There has been a concerning spike in racist abuse online in recent days, with Chelsea team-mate Antonio Rudiger and Manchester United duo Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe other high-profile targets of online racism.

Unfortunately, there’s no sign of the abuse stopping just yet as James took to Instagram to reveal his own flurry of abuse.

„Something needs to change,“ James wrote over the message, which featured insults and slurs relating to the colour of the right-back’s skin.

The abuse came just hours after West Bromwich Albion contacted police over alleged racist abuse directed towards midfielder Romaine Sawyers following the recent loss to Manchester City. The Baggies hope to ban the person responsible from The Hawthorns for life and have called on the police to inflict a strong punishment.

West Bromwich Albion has, and always will, stand against all forms of discrimination.

There is simply no place for it.

— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 29, 2021

„I am appalled to see the racial abuse received by players this week,“ Premier League executive Richard Masters said in a statement. „Racist behaviour of any form is unacceptable and nobody should have to deal with it. Tackling online hate is a priority for football, and I believe social media companies need to do more.

„We at the Premier League will continue to support players, managers and their families who receive discriminatory online abuse. Through our central reporting system we have been able to take immediate action on cases like this and we investigate every report received, with legal action taken where possible.

„We are in regular dialogue with social media companies, challenging them to do more against discriminatory abuse on their platforms. We want to see swifter removal of offensive messages and improved identification and banning of offenders.“

The Premier League have vowed to continue working with relevant authorities and social media companies to try and find a way to rid the platforms of racist abuse, including urging the likes of Twitter and Instagram to provide more support identifying their users.

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