“I wasn’t even going to post this but I woke up angry” – Brentford striker Ivan Toney publicly calls out racist comment directed at him
Brentford striker Ivan Toney has shared a racist message he received on Instagram.
The 26-year-old striker scored twice during Brentford's 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League. Toney has enjoyed an excellent campaign for the Bees. He has scored eight times in his first 10 top-flight encounters of the campaign, which is just four less than his total from the entirety of last season.
The forward's form has even seen him earn his first England call-up as he aims to join the squad that will head to Qatar for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. But Toney received a vile racist message on social media, and he decided to share it with the world:
I wasn’t even going to post this but I woke up angry… https://t.co/2MhjRO05rr
The message sent to him by the young male references Toney's skin color along with an expletive. The message was shared by the former Newcastle United forward, along with the caption:
"I wasn’t even going to post this but I woke up angry…"
Toney's tweet has over 30,000 retweets and 250,000 likes, along with many messages of support for him. The message comes during the Premier League's 'no room for racism' campaign, which has seen players take a knee before matches for two weeks.
Toney's brace has the Bees buzzing 🐝
#BREBHA https://t.co/MMkJGoFY0j
Brentford release club statement calling for 'strong support' for Ivan Toney
Following the striker's tweet, his club released a statement in which they condemned the abuse and called for strong action against the individuals involved.
The west London club said on the official Brentford website:
"Last night, Ivan Toney was subjected to disgusting, racist abuse via a direct message received on social media. We condemn this discriminatory behaviour in the strongest possible terms. An attack on one of our players is an attack on all of us.
"Ivan will receive the full backing from the Club and from the Brentford fans who we have already seen condemning the abuse. We expect strong support from the police, legal authorities and from Instagram's parent company, Meta, to ensure that the individual involved faces the full force of the law for this despicable hate crime."
After Brentford released the statement, the Premier League tweeted:
"The Premier League condemns all forms of discrimination
"No one should have to face abuse of the kind received by Ivan Toney. It has no place in football or society. We are supporting Ivan and the club with investigations
"Football is for everyone #NoRoomForRacism"
The Premier League condemns all forms of discrimination
No one should have to face abuse of the kind received by Ivan Toney. It has no place in football or society. We are supporting Ivan and the club with investigations
Football is for everyone #NoRoomForRacism twitter.com/BrentfordFC/st…