France’s forward Kingsley Coman and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni have been subjected to vile racist abuse on social media following their team’s loss in the final of the FIFA World Cup.
Coman and Tchouameni missed their spot-kicks in the decisive penalty shootout against Argentina which led to these condemnable posts.
Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved Coman’s effort from the spot while Tchouameni fired wide.
The despicable aftermath prompted Bayern Munich, Coman’s club, to issue a statement condemning racial abuse on its social media channels.
“The FC Bayern family is behind you, King. Racism has no place in sport or our society,” they said on Twitter.
Despite UEFA and FIFA’s stern warnings against such acts, racial abuse of footballers remains rampant with no end in sight. No country or club can issue bans to such people as they remain anonymous behind a computer screen.
Even FIFA only issues monetary fines on teams whose supporters are blatantly caught chanting infelicitous slang during games.
A similar situation happened to England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final defeat against Italy last year. All three players missed their penalties in the shootout and were then targeted on social media following the game.
Kingsley Coman still just 26 years of age and Aurelien Tchouameni just 22 will likely be part of France’s squad for years to come.
