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Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has strongly condemned the wave of social media abuse directed at players and staff in recent weeks.
The Australian coach expressed his deep concern over the harmful impact of online harassment on individuals and the wider football community.
What happened?
Ange’s comments came in reference to the abuse received by Spurs winger Brennan Johnson after his team’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the north London derby last Sunday.
The 23-year-old Johnson had to deactivate his Instagram account, and the manager expressed his frustration with the prevalence of social media abuse targeted towards young players.
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Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup third-round tie against Coventry on Wednesday night, he said, "I hate how we’ve just normalised all that stuff."
"You’re talking about a young guy who is probably lacking a bit of confidence at the moment. Things haven’t gone his way.
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The manager went ahead to differentiate between cricstism and abuse while calling out the social media abusers.
“Criticism is one thing; you accept that, “he said.
“To sit down and write something abusive anonymously… say it in front of me, you’ll get a punch on the nose; you won’t do it again, mate. But they won’t do that”.
Social media platforms have taken different approaches to combat online abuse over the years, but there seems to be no end in sight.
However, stakeholders in the game have called for stricter measures to identify and ban those responsible for spreading hate speech and harassment.
Johnson joined Tottenham from Nottingham Forest last summer for a £45 million fee, and in 38 appearances across all competitions, he has scored five goals and provided 10 assists.
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