Jude Bellingham shared a screen grab of racist emojis that were sent to him on Saturday night; Instagram has since confirmed that it has removed a number of accounts related to the abuse
Tuesday 23 March 2021 12:16, UK
Jude Bellingham has revealed he received racist abuse on Instagram in the wake of Dortmund's 2-2 draw with Cologne on Saturday night.
Bellingham shared a screen grab of racist emojis that were sent to him, which he captioned: "Just another day on social media..."
England showed their support for Bellingham with a tweet that said: "We continue to be disgusted by the discriminatory abuse our players - and others across the game - are being subjected to online. Something needs to change. We stand with you, @BellinghamJude."
Dortmund tweeted: "We stand with you @BellinghamJude. Racism belongs nowhere #BorussiaVerbindet"
Instagram confirmed it has removed a number of accounts following an investigation.
The social media platform said in February it will impose stricter penalties, including the removal of accounts, to prevent abusive messages on its platform following recent racist abuse directed towards footballers.
An account was removed earlier this month after Patrick van Aanholt was subjected to racist abuse following Crystal Palace's goalless draw with Manchester United. The Palace defender shared a post captioned "Why we kneel" after the messages were sent to him online.
Kemar Roofe was also targeted after receiving a red card in Rangers' exit from the Europa League on Thursday night, and on Friday Rhian Brewster was praised by Sheffield United for highlighting racist abuse he suffered on social media.
"As a club we applaud Rhian for bringing this disgusting message to light," a statement from the club read. "We will now support him and work with him, the Premier League and all the relevant authorities to ensure the person behind this post is brought to justice."
Dortmund are fifth in the Bundesliga, 18 points off leaders Bayern Munich, after winning 13 of their 26 league games this season, and face Manchester City next month in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Bellingham made his England debut in November, becoming the third-youngest senior Three Lions international in the process.
He was also included in Gareth Southgate's squad last week for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers triple-header, but may not be able to link up with England when the squad assemble at St George's Park at the start of next week.
Regional Covid-19 regulations in Germany may prevent him joining up for the World Cup Qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland.
Asked if he knew what part Bellingham could play this month, Southgate said last week: "We don't know. We've left him in the squad. At this moment in time it looks as though we won't be able to take him.
"The quarantine rules in Germany look like they'll rule him out.
"But, as we're seeing, those rules can change so quickly and while we're still investigating what's possible we wanted to name him in the squad.
"We've got a really good relationship with Dortmund so no issues between us and the club."
Sky Sports is committed to making skysports.com and our channels on social media platforms a place for comment and debate that is free of abuse, hate and profanity.
For more information please visit: www.skysports.com/hatewontstopus
If you see a reply to Sky Sports posts and/or content with an expression of hate on the basis of race, colour, gender, nationality, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, age or class please copy the URL to the hateful post or screengrab it and email us here.
Online Reporting Form | Kick It Out
Kick It Out is football's equality and inclusion organisation - working throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive change.
