{"id":557790,"date":"2020-07-12T17:09:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T21:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=557790"},"modified":"2020-07-12T17:09:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-12T21:09:39","slug":"police-arrest-12-year-old-over-racist-abuse-sent-to-wilfried-zaha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/07\/12\/police-arrest-12-year-old-over-racist-abuse-sent-to-wilfried-zaha\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Arrest 12-Year-Old Over Racist Abuse Sent to Wilfried Zaha"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested after sending racist abuse to Crystal Palace<\/a> forward Wilfried Zaha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Police Arrest 12-Year-Old Over Racist Messages Sent to Wilfried Zaha<\/h2>\n

Palace Boss Slams ‘Cowardly and Despicable Abuse’<\/h3>\n

West Midlands Police have arrested a young boy who sent racist abuse to Wilfried Zaha on social media.<\/p>\n

The messages were sent ahead of his side’s match against Aston Villa<\/a> today (July 12).<\/p>\n

Zaha made the abuse public by sharing screenshots to his social media accounts.<\/p>\n

Alongside the images, he used the caption: “Woke up to this today.”<\/p>\n

Just before 5pm, West Midlands Police released a statement about the incident.<\/p>\n

They confirmed that a 12-year-old had been arrested and was now in custody.<\/p>\n

The full statement said: “We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy.<\/p>\n

“The 12-year-old from Solihull has been taken to custody. Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won’t be tolerated.”<\/p>\n

The abuse sent to Zaha comes two weeks after the Premier League launched a system to allow players to report online abuse.<\/p>\n

However, Palace boss Roy Hodgson<\/a> supported Zaha’s decision to go public. He added that both clubs are working to identify the individual responsible.<\/p>\n

“It is very saddening on the day of a game that a player wakes up to this cowardly and despicable abuse,” said Hodgson.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I think it is right that Wilf made people aware of it; I don’t think it is something he should keep quiet about.”<\/p>\n

He later added:\u00a0“There is literally no excuse; there is no excuse at all.”<\/p>\n

A Premier League statement condemned the action.<\/p>\n

It said: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and the Premier League stands alongside @wilfriedzaha in opposing this, and discrimination in any form. There is #NoRoomForRacism, anywhere.<\/p>\n

“We will continue to support players, managers, coaches and their family members who receive serious discriminatory online abuse.<\/p>\n

“Through our dedicated reporting system we can take immediate action on cases like this.”<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>