The suspect, a 37-year-old, from Ashton upon Mersey, arrived at Cheadle Heath police station on Wednesday morning and was arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act; he has since been released under investigation
Wednesday 14 July 2021 15:45, UK
A man has been arrested after racist social media posts were directed towards England players following the Euro 2020 final, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
The suspect, 37, from Ashton upon Mersey, arrived at Cheadle Heath police station on Wednesday morning and was arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act. He has since been released under investigation.
A post was made on the evening of July 11 following the Italy vs England match at Wembley.
Detective Inspector Matt Gregory, of GMP's Trafford Division said: "The actions of a small number of people overshadowed what was a hugely unifying event for our country on Sunday evening.
"We are firm in our commitment, any racist abuse whether online or off is not acceptable.
"We now have one man in custody and our investigation continues."
England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted with racist abuse online after missing penalties in Sunday's shootout defeat to Italy.
Wednesday's arrest by GMP came after West Mercia Police investigating a racist tweet aimed at Rashford arrested and released a 50-year-old man.
The suspect, from Powick, near Worcester, was detained on suspicion of inciting racial hatred following reports of an inappropriate tweet posted on Sunday, and has since been released under investigation.
Prime minister Boris Johnson warned on Wednesday that social media companies will face fines amounting to 10 per cent of their global revenue if they fail to remove hate and racist abuse from their platforms.
Johnson also told MPs at prime minister's questions that the Government is changing the football banning order regime to cover online racism.
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