Chelsea
striker Romelu Lukaku says social media companies should sit down with
Premier League footballers to help combat online abuse.
A large number of footballers have been subjected to racist abuse in recent
years and spoken out about the discrimination, including Lukaku and his
Chelsea team-mates Reece James, Antonio Rudiger, and N'Golo Kante.
England defender James temporarily deleted his Instagram account earlier
this year due to the scale of online abuse, while Premier League players
continue to kneel before kick-offs to show support for the movement for
racial equality.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Lukaku suggested social media companies
could work together with players to take action.
"The captains of every team, and four or five players, like the big
personalities of every team, should have a meeting with the CEOs of
Instagram and governments and the FA and the PFA," he said. "We should just
sit around the table and have a big meeting about it.
"[It is] how we can attack it straight away, not only from the men's game,
but also from the women's game.
"I think just all of us together and just have a big meeting and have a
conference and just talk about stuff that needs to be addressed to protect
the players, but also to protect fans and younger players that want to
become professional footballers."
This week, Lukaku's Chelsea team-mate Marcos Alonso said he will no longer
take a knee before matches as the defender believes the anti-racism gesture
is "losing strength".
Since the Premier League resumed in the summer of 2020 after a
coronavirus-enforced break, players, officials and staff at games have been
taking a knee.
Anton Ferdinand says he disagrees with Marcos Alonso's decision to stop
taking a knee and has called for footballers to stay united in their stance
against racism
The Spain left-back says he will instead point to the Premier League 'No
Room for Racism' badge on his sleeve, while other players kneel ahead of
kick-off.
In the CNN interview, Lukaku was asked about the effectiveness of taking the
knee, and said: "I think we can take stronger positions, basically.
"Yeah, we are taking the knee, but in the end, everybody's clapping but...
sometimes after the game, you see another insult."
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Kick It Out reporting racism
Online Reporting Form | Kick It Out
Kick It Out is football's equality and inclusion organisation - working
throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge
discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive
change.
www.kickitout.org
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