Statement on abusive social media comments

A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: “Merseyside Police can confirm an investigation is underway into racist and sexist comments made on social media directed towards a Liverpool FC Women player.

“This follows comments targeting players for the men’s team earlier this week which are already under investigation, and it is extremely disappointing to see that a player has been subjected to online abuse again.

“It is appalling to think that anyone would use an online platform to target anyone with abuse based on their race or sex, and we condemn such behaviour in the strongest terms.

“We will always take reports of hate crime extremely seriously and want the public to feel reassured that we will do everything within our powers to ensure that those responsible for incidents of hate crime – whether committed in person or online - are dealt with.

“I would also like to remind social media users intent on committing hate crimes that any belief that they can maintain anonymity online are misplaced. Offences committed online, including malicious communications and any inappropriate behaviour, can be investigated.”

Anyone with information on hate crime or malicious communications online is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.