As part of the Premier League’s ongoing No Room For Racism campaign, Crystal Palace’s Joel Ward, Tyrick Mitchell and Leigh Nicol have spoken about the problems in dealing with racial abuse on social media.
Players have been receiving racial abuse on social media repeatedly, which has an impact on morale and mental wellbeing, as Nicol points out: “It’s life changing in many instances, as well, for people who can’t hack it or [don’t] have thick skin or can’t cope with it."
“I shouldn’t ever think: ‘Oh it’s probably going to happen at some point.’ I should never have that feeling, but that’s how it kind of is now,” said Mitchell.