Watford captain Troy Deeney is the latest footballer to have received alleged racist abuse on social media.
The 30-year-old English forward has disabled comments on his Instagram page after abuse from “small-minded people” was aimed at him and his family.
His Hornets team-mate Adrian Mariappa later said he too had received racist messages on the social media platform.
“Due to events from the last 24 hours I will be taking comments off my posts,” Deeney said on Instagram.
“To me, this isn’t a game. When you racially abuse my family or myself I have to take measures to prevent young people seeing these comments and thinking that it’s acceptable, and having to expose people I care about to these small-minded people.”
Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling was one of several England players to have racist chants directed at them during the Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro on 25 March.
On Thursday, Tottenham and England defender Danny Rose said he “can’t wait to see the back of football” and is frustrated at the lack of action taken against racist fans.
