West Midlands police have confirmed they have arrested a 12-year-old boy after Wilfried Zaha was subjected to racist abuse on social media before Crystal Palace’s match against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Zaha shared screenshots of messages sent to his Instagram account in the early hours of Sunday, including one of members of the white supremacist organisation the Ku Klux Klan. “Woke up to this today,” Zaha wrote.
The messages were condemned by the Palace manager, Roy Hodgson, while Villa said they were working with the police and would ban the culprit for life.
A statement from the police confirmed they had taken swift action. “We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy,” it read.
#ARRESTED| We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy.
— West Midlands Police - #StayAlert (@WMPolice) July 12, 2020
The 12-year-old from #Solihull has been taken to custody.
Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won't be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/oFxBUvdtV1
“The 12-year-old from Solihull has been taken to custody. Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won’t be tolerated.”
Ian Wright, the former Arsenal and Palace striker, offered his support to Zaha, who suffered racist abuse and threats to his family on social media after being awarded a late penalty during Palace’s draw against Arsenal in October 2018 and again in April 2019.
“People like to make these experiences seem like it’s not the norm for Black people,” Wright tweeted. “It’s always an outlier. ‘Not one of us’. ‘Not a real (insert club) fan’. These are real people and daily experiences. Sooner we accept it the better we can deal with it.”
The England cricketer Jofra Archer said: “Hopefully this will deter the keyboard warriors.”