Romelu Lukaku sends message to football authorities, players and social media companies after racist abuse

In a statement posted on his Instagram page, Lukaku noted that 'many players' have received racist abuse in recent weeks

Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku is calling on footballers to take a united stance against racist abuse, saying the situation is getting worse, not better, after he was targeted by Cagliari fans on Sunday.

The Belgian star was racially abused by home fans as he took a second-half penalty, which he scored to give the visitors a 2-1 win in his second game in Serie A since joining Inter from Manchester United this summer.

This, however, was not the first time Cagliari fans have behaved like this in recent seasons, having also racially abused Moise Kean, now with Everton, Juve’s Blaise Matuidi and Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari when he was with Pescara in 2017.

In a statement posted on his Instagram page, Lukaku noted that “many players” have received racist abuse in recent weeks and now he has, too.

“Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone and we shouldn’t accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame,” he wrote.

“I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination!!! Social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook...) need to work better as well with football clubs, because every day you see at least a racist comment under a post of a person of colour. We’ve been saying it for years and still no action.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s 2019, instead of going forward we’re going backwards and I think as players we need (to) unify and make a statement on this matter to keep this game clean and enjoyable for everyone.”

On Saturday, Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma became the latest British-based player to receive abuse on social media platforms following a late own goal against Sheffield United.

This followed similar treatment for his team-mate Tammy Abraham and Manchester United duo Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford – all after they failed to score penalties – and several other black players in the Premier League and Championship.

Kick It Out, the anti-racism and discrimination organisation, released a statement on Monday condemning the abuse.

“This weekend has resulted in yet another player facing disgusting racist and discriminatory abuse on social media simply for doing their job and this behaviour has to stop,” it read.