Tottenham Hotspur’s loanee Gareth Bale said he is willing to leave social media due to recent cases of racial abuse against Welsh players Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango.
The two players received a series of racially sensitive messages via Instagram after Wales won Mexico 1-0 in an international friendly on Saturday, March 27, 2021. South Wales police have started investigating the racial attack on the players.
And it continues… another week of @instagram doing absolutely nothing about racial abuse. My insta will get taken down if I post any clips from my games though… #priorities pic.twitter.com/TbIrH1aPqy
— Rabbi Matondo (@rabbi_matondo) March 28, 2021
Also, a spokesperson for Facebook claimed that the accounts behind the racial attacks on the players have been removed from Instagram during the weekend, Saying the social media platform which is owned by Facebook does not tolerate racism.
Recall that former Arsenal star, Thierry Henry disabled all his social media accounts recently to protest against racial attacks. He said he would not enable his accounts until the owners of the platforms start taking the fight against racial abuse more seriously.
In his reaction to the rising cases of racism, Gareth Bale who is one of the most influential players in the Wales national team said he would stop using social media if everyone agrees to do it at the same time.
The 31-year-old right-winger said boycotting social media can make an impact if all the influential people in sport and other sectors do it in uniting.
“If everyone did it at once, not just one or two people, I would, Bale said.
“If it was a campaign where a lot of influential people in sport and other forms of life on social media make a statement, then I think it could help. If that was the case, I’m all for that.”
On the racial attack on his teammates, Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango, Bale said the racial attack on the players was a disappointment.
“It wasn’t nice to wake up on Sunday to hear these things,” Bale said. “Ben, Rabbi, and anyone else know we are here to support them, we are behind them and if they need to talk to us at all we are here.
“It’s very disappointing and something needs to happen in terms of the social media companies. To get an account, you need to put your passport in.
“I think that will stop people saying things because then you will be able to trace them down and hold them accountable.”
