Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has slammed
photo-sharing platform Instagram over inaction in tackling racism after being abused following his side’s 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday.  

The Ivory Coast international posted screenshots
of racist abuse he received in direct messages after the win at the Etihad
Stadium, where defender Aymeric Laporte was sent off for a foul on the forward.

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“This message isn’t for me to get a million
messages saying we stand with you and it’s disgusting or about me getting
sympathy. I’m not here for all the nonsense that is being done instead of
fixing the actual problem!” Zaha wrote on Instagram.

“I don’t mind abuse because nowadays it
comes with doing the job I do even though it’s not an excuse, but my color will
always be the real problem, but it’s fine because I’ll always be BLACK AND
PROUD! Speak to me when you actual take this issue serious,” the 28-year-old
said.

Zaha scored an early opening goal, which
was his 50th in the Premier League, in the 2-0 win over Pep Guardiola’s
side
. Zaha has been among the most outspoken players against racism as the Premier
League struggles to curb abuse against players of colour.

Ahead of the 2021-22 season, the league confirmed
fans who engage in racist abuse or other discriminatory behaviour will be
banned from all Premier League grounds.

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The league announced the sanctions under
their ‘No Room for Racism’ strategy, adding to the punishments that were
previously administered by clubs individually. This came after Twitter
announced the results of their analysis of online abuse targeting England
players during the Euros.

The micro-blogging platform claimed it had
removed 1,622 messages containing racist language in the 24 hours during and
after the final between England and Italy, according to The Guardian.