Anthony Stewart: Aberdeen captain responds to alleged racist abuse after St Mirren defeat
Anthony Stewart was sent off after giving away a penalty during Aberdeen's defeat at St Mirren on Christmas Eve; the Dons captain was then sent alleged racist abuse on social media; the former Wycombe Wanderers defender said "I will not take racist abuse lightly"
Tuesday 27 December 2022 23:55, UK
Aberdeen captain Anthony Stewart has indicated that he will take action after being the subject of alleged racist abuse on social media.
Stewart was sent off after giving away a penalty during Aberdeen's 3-1 defeat to St Mirren on Saturday and has since responded to a comment made on Instagram.
He said: "There is many highs and lows in this beautiful game and I take full responsibility for my mistake, which costed us three points.
"However, I will not take racist abuse lightly."
Aberdeen were leading 1-0 in Paisley before Stewart - who joined the club in the summer from Wycombe Wanderers - gave away the spot-kick which drew St Mirren level.
The hosts went onto win, meaning Aberdeen have lost all three games since the Scottish Premiership resumed following the World Cup.
Jim Goodwin's side remain third in the league, ahead of Hearts on goal difference.
An Aberdeen statement said: "We strongly condemn all forms of discrimination and are shocked at the racist abuse aimed at our captain, Anthony Stewart.
"Anthony has our full support and as a club we are currently undertaking a stringent internal investigation to try to identify the person responsible.
"Aberdeen FC stands free from all forms of discrimination, and we will simply not tolerate this type of abuse."
A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Instagram, said: "No one should have to experience racist abuse and we don't want it on Instagram.
"We want to protect people from this abuse in the first place, which is why we've developed features like Hidden Words, which filters offensive comments and DMs, and Limits, which hides comments and DMs from people who don't follow you or only followed you recently.
"We know racism can't be eradicated overnight, but we'll continue to work closely with football bodies to help players turn on these tools and to help protect our community from abuse."
