Hoffenheim's Ryan Sessegnon says he is disgusted at the racist abuse he has been subjected to online after the winger shared screenshots of the messages he received on social media.
"Honestly unbelievable. The craziest thing is I'm not even surprised anymore. Disgusting," Sessegnon, who joined the Bundesliga club on loan from Tottenham Hotspur last month, wrote on Instagram.
Both Hoffenheim and Spurs offered their support to the 20-year-old.
Everyone at the Club is with you @RyanSessegnon.
We are proud of the rich ethnic diversity that exists across our communities, fans, staff and players.We are driven by inclusion and equality for all and nobody should have to endure such repulsive abuse. pic.twitter.com/Tliv3rdRtI
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 3, 2020
"Everyone at the club is with you @RyanSessegnon. We are proud of the rich ethnic diversity that exists across our communities, fans, staff and players," Spurs tweeted.
"We are driven by inclusion and equality for all and nobody should have to endure such repulsive abuse."
Bundesliga club Hoffenheim said on Twitter they stood for "tolerance, integration and respect."
Today, our player @RyanSessegnon was the target of horrific online racist abuse.#TSG stands for tolerance, integration and respect. We reject all forms of racism, discrimination and exclusion and say #NoToRacism! pic.twitter.com/mb6yvSk4Yg
— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@tsghoffenheimEN) November 2, 2020
"We reject any form of racism, discrimination and exclusion and say no to racism," they said.
Take a moment to listen and reflect.#NoToRacism pic.twitter.com/Rkh7md9iGu
— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@tsghoffenheimEN) November 3, 2020
Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt and winger Wilfried Zaha are among players to have called on social media platforms to take stricter action against racism after they were targeted.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
