A racist tweet targeting Middlesbrough striker Chuba Akpom is under investigation by police, while the club is out on Twitter after the social media platform “didn’t think it violated” the rules.
Akpom, 27, was targeted in a message responding to a tweet from the club’s Twitter account after scoring in Saturday’s 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw with Bristol City.
Boro immediately reported the message, which contained a highly derogatory term, to Twitter, but was unhappy with the response they received and retweeted both the message and the first reply with the insulting word partially obscured on Monday.
A statement on the club’s website read: “Cleveland Police are investigating an incident of social media abuse directed against our player Chuba Akpom after Saturday’s game against Bristol City.
“The offending Tweet, made within minutes of the final whistle, was immediately reported to police and Twitter.
“Twitter’s response was, ‘We have reviewed the reported content and have not found it to violate any Twitter rules. No action is being taken at this time.’
“The club has a zero-tolerance policy towards hate crime and discrimination in all forms. The police investigation is still ongoing.”
Sky Sports News has reached out to Twitter for comment.
Cleveland Police Department confirmed they have launched an investigation.
A spokesman said: “Cleveland Police are investigating a report from Middlesbrough Football Club about a racist remark made against a man on social media. The investigation is ongoing.”
The racist reply, which sparked angry reactions from other users, appears to have now been removed and replaced with a message that read: “This Tweet has broken Twitter rules.”
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