Everton have decided to contact police over racism aimed at Onana while Calvert-Lewin’s Dad slams fans for abusing his son over injuries.
Amadou Onana, 22, was targeted with abuse after Everton’s 4-0 Premier League defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday with the Belgium international uploading a screenshot of an abusive message he was sent on his Instagram.
Now Everton have referred the incident to the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit and issued the following statement…
“Everton Football Club strongly condemns any form of racist and discriminatory abuse towards our players,” a club statement to The Athletic added on Monday.
“The club is aware of a racist post targeted at Amadou Onana. Such abuse is vile and will not and should not be tolerated. The club is conducting an investigation to identify the individual responsible and will also be supporting the Police with any investigation they conduct.
“We must all take a zero-tolerance stance by reporting such behaviour to social media platforms and the authorities. Racism has no place online, in our stadia or in our communities.”
Meanwhile, the Dad of Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s called out the ‘numpty’ fans for abusing his son.
Karlda hit out at those targetting his son during the Toffees’ 4-0 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday, which saw the 26-year-old, forced off injured again haven endured a career full of injuries.
Leaving in the first half. he sustained a welt on his right cheekbone after colliding with Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez.
Calvert-Lewin tried to carry on but the swelling got so severe that Sean Dyche had no option but to take him off the pitch.
This brought tears to his fathers eyes, he said via Facebook: ‘The life of a Premier League footballer Dad. The last time I went to Villa Park he was a 16 year old sub for Sheffield United.
‘Today I was there to see him start his first game in 2 years that he’s been fully fit.
‘I was nervous beyond belief but I knew how hard he’d worked to recover so had faith he’d be ok.
‘To see my Son hurt like that brought me to tears again. It always will no matter what age he is.
‘He’s now in hospital getting sorted. I hear the names he got called by his own “fans” first hand and what I will say is this.
‘My Son lives the dream daily like you wouldn’t believe and that won’t change, regardless of what some numpty Stone Island gear shouts.
‘Stay bitter fellas. Stay bitter. So it’s another little set back in a long list of set backs but he’ll be alright. He always is.’
Dominic Calvert-Lewin sent a message to Everton fans after suffering a facial injury.
Posting on Instagram, he says it is ‘sore’ but adds he shouldn’t be sidelined for too long. He wrote: “Didn’t expect to end up here today. I’m sorry it wasn’t the return everyone was hoping for and no-one is more frustrated than me. It’s a sore one but I’ll be back shortly.”
Alex Iwobi also limped off with a hamstring injury in the second half. Manager Sean Dyche said: “Dom didnt go off with concussion, he got a knock of the cheekbone and had a bit of blurred vision. We had to get that checked over properly. Alex, we’re just waiting on that but it looks like a hamstring injury. Dom, we’re hoping it’s just a knock but with Alex, it’s unusual for hamstrings to settle down very quickly so he’s likely to be out.”
Twitter users gave their reaction as Everton contact police over racism aimed at Onana…
@EvertonBlueArmy: Ban them for life and anyone else who decides to send that abuse to our players – or anyone for that matter. We must stamp this out.
@MarkDempsey_: No matter how bad you think a performance is, in no way does it mean you should abuse the players. This is the second game in a row that a player has been subject to abuse. It needs to stop now. Criticise a players performance but don’t target them with abuse. Simple
@ChrisMacfie: Hate the way some of our fans think it’s completely acceptable to racially abuse & personally abuse players for the team getting beat or coming off injured, Onana this week & again Calvert Lewin, stop saying disgusting things in the heat of the moment, you’ll only come off worse
@wavertreeblue: So Onana has been racially abused, Dom’s dad talking about the disgusting things he was called as he went off injured. Our players let themselves down today but our fans embarrassed us. Bad bad day for Everton football club.
@evertonCarl95: People who do these things disgust me. Hope he gets a proper punishment
@FPLPremTipster: If you discriminate against others, we don’t want you at Goodison Park.
@Everton_Extra: Ban them, for life.
@LuvEvertonForum: Some folk just aren’t very nice, but we have a large fan base and most aren’t like that.
@sjgmartin: Absolute disgrace this. Fans must self police and stamp out this abhorrent behaviour.
@SCampbell1878: Gotta remember it’s a handful of cretins out of thousands and thousands of decent fans. 98% condemn anything like this, including the messages aimed at Maupay last week. Ban the weirdo and move on.
@victorlindsay: “Good fans” have to take responsibility for shutting down the toxic ones. It’s on us now.
@morley_ken: Maybe change the way away games allocated if this type support players are receiving. Many fans still behind team would love opportunity to go away. Stand by for, “these all pay lots money to follow the team”.
@MattTheBlue2: What the fuck is going on #EFC
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