Newcastle United report racist abuse of Joe Willock to police
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Newcastle United latest news: Newcastle United have released a statement condemning ‘disgusting’ messages sent to midfielder Joe Willock on Instagram.
Newcastle United have released a statement condemning racial abuse sent to midfielder Joe Willock following their win over Crystal Palace at the weekend.
The Magpies have also called upon social media companies to 'do more to protect users and support the prosecution of those who seek to break the law on their platforms’. Newcastle United triumphed 2-0 against the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, with Willock coming on as a late substitute in place of Jacob Murphy.
Post-match, though, Willock released pictures of racist abuse he had been sent on Instagram. Willock overlayed the image with the caption: ‘I pray you and your family find God. And may him have mercy on you.’
Newcastle United release statement following racial abuse aimed at Joe Willock
Newcastle United have taken swift action to respond to those messages, offering Willock support whilst also urging social media companies to take action. A statement released by the club on Monday condemning the abuse read: ‘We are disgusted by racist abuse received by Joe Willock on Instagram on Sunday evening.
‘Following our win over Crystal Palace, Joe received several direct messages from an Instagram account that included racial slurs and deeply disturbing threats of violence towards Joe and his family. Sadly, Joe has faced this before. Each time, we have acted quickly to support him and that has been our immediate priority again.
‘We have swiftly reported this matter to the police and we will fully support any investigation to identify the person responsible and hold them accountable, wherever they are. This can only happen with meaningful action from Meta, Instagram's owners. We urge Meta to give the police all the information they need to identify the perpetrator, and to do so quickly.
‘Removing content and applying message filters is not enough. Social media companies must do more to protect users and support the prosecution of those who seek to break the law on their platforms. We stand firmly with Joe and anyone else who faces this kind of abuse.’
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Newcastle United also released a statement back in February to condemn racist abuse sent again to Willock following the club’s 2-1 defeat against Fulham in the Premier League. They again urged Meta, the owners of Instagram, and all other social media platforms to ‘do more to eradicate this behaviour from their platforms.’
Willock has made 16 appearances in total for the Magpies this season and has featured in all of their last six Premier League outings. With a packed fixture schedule to come in January, one that will see them play eight more times before the month is over, means that Willock will likely get more chances to impress.
His versatility also means that he can cover for injuries or rotation out wide as well as in the midfield three. Willock played on the right of the front three against the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, having also featured on the left of that trio and regularly in midfield under Eddie Howe following his £25m move from Arsenal back in 2021.