Tottenham Angry Son Heung-min Attacked By Racist Harassment on Social Media After Derby Game

JAKARTA – Tottenham Hotspur was angered after their attacking midfielder Son Heung-min received racist abuse on social media following the London derby match against West Ham United last weekend.

The South Korean national team captain was played off the bench after halftime and scored Spurs' second goal in a 2-0 win over The Hammers at Tottenham Stadium, Sunday, February 19 yesterday.

In a tweet, Spurs condemned the abuse and immediately called on social media companies and authorities to take immediate action on what happened to their player.

"We are aware of absolutely despicable racist abuse on social media directed at Son Heung Min during today's match, which has been reported by the club", Tottenham said on the club's official Twitter late on Sunday.

"We stand with Sonny and once again call on social media companies and the authorities to take action", they added.

The English Football Association (FA) also immediately responded to the harassment. They say that this kind of thing must be prosecuted and the perpetrators must receive the appropriate punishment.

"We strongly condemn the racist abuse directed at Son Heung-min tonight. This has no place in our game and we fully support the authorities and social media companies to take the strongest possible measures to address it", they said.

This is not the first time Son has received racial abuse. Previously, in June 2022, 12 people were arrested for racially harassing Son on Twitter.

They were later sentenced and have written an apology to the Tottenham striker.

Then in August 2022, Chelsea banned a season ticket holder indefinitely for hurling racist abuse at Son during a 2-2 Premier League draw at Stamford Bridge.

Prior to that, Tottenham club officials had also complained of disgusting racist abuse on social media following the 1-3 home defeat to Manchester United on April 11, 2021.

"Another match day and more disgusting racial abuse suffered by one of our players", said a Spurs statement at the time.

"This matter has once again been reported to the platform and we will now undertake a full review with the Premier League to determine the most effective course of action going forward."