Gareth Bale urges sports stars to stage a mass BOYCOTT of social media over racist abuse

Gareth Bale has suggested a mass boycott of social media from sports stars until companies clamp down on abuse.

The Wales captain’s team-mates Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango received racist messages on Instagram after Saturday’s 1-0 friendly win over Mexico.

Police are now looking into the matter but Bales thinks it may be time for footballers and other famous people to take a stand by coming off social media.

Gareth Bale says sports stars should boycott social media until more is done over racist abuse

Wales winger Rabbi Matondo (left) and his team-mate Ben Cabango (right) were racially abused on social media following their friendly win over Mexico on Saturday

Matondo was sent several monkey emojis and called a ‘n*****’ by one social media user

The Tottenham forward, 31, said: ‘If everyone came together and decided to boycott social media to make a statement, if we had a campaign where a lot of big influential people in sport and in other forms of life came off social media to make a statement, then yes, I definitely think it could help.

‘If that is the case then I am obviously for that.’

Professional players in England and Wales boycotted social media for 24 hours in April 2019 in protest at how companies and football authorities responded to racism.

Cabango also shared an image of a message he had been sent on his Instagram story

The Welsh FA condemned the abuse of Matondo and Cabango in a statement on Twitter

Thierry Henry last week became the most high-profile sportsperson to deactivate his accounts.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Monday morning, the Arsenal legend said: ‘If you know you’re going to get found out, you know you’ll think twice about saying something. A lot of people will hide behind fake accounts. All I want is accountability. 

‘We need to find out who those people are… It is a great tool, but I know a little portion of the world is using it as a weapon. I will be back on it when it’s safer 

‘We’re seeing that it’s not a safe place at the minute, people are getting racially abused. For me when you see the statement, it’s very important, I talk also about bullying and harassment that can cause mental issues.

‘People commit suicide because of it. It’s very difficult I know to eradicate everything right, but can it be safer? We all know that it is a great tool. It is a great tool that a lot of people are using as a weapon. Why? because they can hide because fake accounts.’ 

Thierry Henry has cranked the pressure up on social media companies with an explosive GMB interview in which he outlined how more is done to address copyright than racism

England boss Gareth Southgate admitted at the weekend that he may ask his players to come off social media during this summer’s European Championship so they are not exposed to abuse.

On the racist abuse of Matondo and Cabango, Bale added: ‘It wasn’t nice to wake up on Sunday to hear these things.

‘Ben and Robbie and anyone else knows that we’re here to support them and we’re behind them and if they need to talk to us at all we’re here.

‘It’s very disappointing and something needs to happen in terms of the social media companies.

‘I guess people say things because you’re not able to chase them down and hold them accountable for what they’re saying.

‘At the moment people can create an account and say something, delete it and you never know who said it and where they are from.

‘So something needs to be done to hold people accountable and stop people saying these horrible things.’