Charlton have called in police after Lyle Taylor was subjected to racist abuse on Twitter following the club’s 1-0 win over Bradford on Saturday.
Taylor, who scored the game’s only goal after 19 minutes, later retweeted a post which had been sent to him from an account in the name of “Bantams Real talk” comprising a succession of banana emojis.
The striker said in his post: “Look at this… Yet another example of ignorant, small minded #Racism #Pathetic.”
Now his club have revealed the matter has been reported to police and vowed to work with Bradford to identify the person responsible.
A statement issued via Charlton’s official website, www.cafc.co.uk, said: “Following our game against Bradford City on Saturday, an individual directed racist remarks towards Lyle Taylor on Twitter.
“Racist abuse is abhorrent and completely unacceptable, it is not something Lyle or any individual should have to deal with. We take all forms of discrimination very seriously, and condemn any kind of hatred.
“The incident has been reported to the police and we will work with them and Bradford City to identify the person responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken against them.”
Taylor later revealed he had received a deluge of support in the wake of the message.
He tweeted: “The support from everybody has been overwhelming today. The blanket condemnation of 1 idiot’s actions has highlighted the people’s true feelings on this matter. Thank you for all the messages too, it means the world. #KickItOut.”
It is not the first time the player has been targeted with Charlton having alerted the authorities to an incident following their League One win at AFC Wimbledon in February.
The club statement continued: “The fact that racist abuse is still seen in football demonstrates work still needs to be done to tackle it.
“We will continue our work with various anti-racism organisations and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust on anti-racism and anti-discrimination projects and urge anyone who witnesses racist abuse to report it.
“The club have worked with Kick It Out, who reported this incident to Twitter.”
