Ainsley Maitland-Niles: Arsenal star shares picture of racist abuse he received on social media
The 21-year-old was branded a 'stupid monkey' on Instagram in the latest incident of racial abuse in football
Arsenal star Ainsley Maitland-Niles has shared a picture of racist abuse he received on social media platform Instagram.
The Gunners right-back was sent off in the first-half of the club’s 3-0 defeat at Leicester on Sunday.
Arsenal’s third successive Premier League defeat has left their top four hopes in serious doubt. Unai Emery’s men are two points behind fourth place Chelsea with two games remaining.
And in an old Instagram post on Maitland-Niles’ profile which read, ‘We go again #coyg’, the youngster was racially abused by user @reda1011.
He wrote: "You are a stupid monkey get a red card VS Leicester, Arsenal will lose the competition because of your stupidity."
Maitland-Niles decided to publicise the incident, sharing a screenshot of the abuse with his own comment reading: "When will the racism end? @reda1011 I wish you all the best in life mate."
Maitland-Niles is one of many black players to be the victim of racial abuse on social media in recent weeks. Ashley Young, Troy Deeney and Wilfried Zaha have all been similarly targeted.
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Young was branded a ‘f****** n*****’ after Manchester United were dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona, while Zaha was called a ‘diving monkey’ after winning a penalty in a win over Newcastle earlier this month.
And racial abuse forced Watford captain Troy Deeney to disable comments on his Instagram profile.
In December, Maitland-Niles revealed he had suffered racial abuse on a football pitch as a 12-year-old.
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Asked if he had ever been racially targeted, he said: ”Yes I have. Not at the professional level, but growing up in the youth ranks.
“I was 12. I was at Arsenal at the time, it was an away trip to a German side I think.
"I reported it, but nothing was done about it. I guess I just had to move on from it and become stronger from that."