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Rashford calls out racial abuse after Man United loss

Marcus RashfordImage source, Getty Images

Marcus Rashford has received more racist abuse after Manchester United's loss in the Europa League final.

The England striker said he got at least 70 racial insults on social media after Wednesday's match where his club lost the final to Spanish team Villarreal.

Man United were beaten 11-10 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Image source, Getty Images

"At least 70 racial slurs on my social accounts counted so far," Rashford wrote on Twitter.

"For those working to make me feel any worse than I already do, good luck trying."

Rashford has spoken previously about racial abuse he has received.

In January, the England international said he was subjected to "social media at its worst" after receiving racist abuse following a 0-0 draw with Arsenal.

Image source, MarcusRashford/Twitter

"I'm a black man and I live every day proud that I am," he wrote on Twitter at the time.

"No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you're just simply not going to get it here."

Many players have spoken out about the racist abuse they get online this season and there have been many calls for social media companies to do more about the people who do it.

Since the death of George Floyd, players have taken to one knee before every Premier League game to protest about racism in sport and society as a whole.

Image source, Getty Images

Last month the whole of UK football and many other sports joined in a weekend where they refused to use any social media to protest about the lack of actions on the issue.

Online sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram earn millions of pounds from football-related content, much of which is provided by clubs and players, so when clubs and players leave, it can have a big impact.

Facebook promised in February 2021 that tougher measures would be taken to tackle the issue and Instagram - which is owned by Facebook - announced a tool to enable users to automatically filter out abusive messages from those they do not follow on the platform.

The UK government has previously threatened social media companies with "large fines" which could amount to "billions of pounds" if they fail to tackle abuse on their platforms.