Shortly after the full-time whistle at Old Trafford, multiple racist comments were left on past Instagram posts of Kyle Walker-Peters while Armel Bella Kotchap also suffered similar online abuse. Saints released a strong statement on Monday morning condemning the abuse and calling on social media companies to do more to stop the problem. And on Tuesday afternoon, speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Brentford, Selles offered his thoughts.
Ruben Selles said: “We realised immediately after the game that we had that situation and the club have made a strong statement everywhere, not only on social media but in the places that you need to be. This is a strong strategy and it’s a good strategy and I support my club in those moments. I think that discrimination cannot be a part of society, especially when inside our dressing room we have 16 or 17 nationalities. It is an environment of togetherness and unity from different backgrounds. I think the policy from the Premier League during the last two or three years with their ‘stop harassment’ message has been really strong. But apparently, we have a still job to do. I will continue being on the side of the people who are against discrimination and that’s what we are doing and of course giving all the support to our players, to Kyle (Walker-Peters) and to Armel (Bella-Kotchap). Nobody should get these kinds of comments. Not on social media or in any place. So I’m with my club and with my players and I’m against discrimination.”
The full statement from the club can be read below:
“In February 2021 the club made a statement about one of our young players receiving abhorrent racial abuse following a match against Manchester United. More than two years on, we find ourselves in the exact same position: disgusted and disappointed in the behaviour of those online who lower themselves to abusing players for the colour of their skin. What is equally frustrating is the lack of meaningful action in those two years from the social media platforms who allow such hatred to breed and fester. As we have said before, Southampton Football Club fights every day to remove such people from our sport and our community in order to protect our players, our staff, Southampton fans and those football supporters around the world who recognise and celebrate the diversity that makes football special. We have forwarded the messages concerned to Hampshire Police in keeping with our normal processes when dealing with these cases. We have also reported these posts to the social media platforms involved. 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.”
