Tottenham call for action after racist abuse aimed at Son Heung-min

Tottenham's Son Heung-min in action against West Ham at Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur have called on social media companies and the authorities to take action against racist abuse targeting Son Heung-min after the club’s 2-0 win over West Ham on Sunday.

Son scored Tottenham’s second goal in the win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“We have been made aware of the utterly reprehensible online racist abuse directed at Heung-Min Son during today’s match, which has been reported by the Club,” Tottenham said in a statement released on social media. “We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action.”

England’s Football Association also tweeted a call for social media companies to take action.

“We strongly condemn the racist abuse aimed at Son Heung-min this evening," the FA said in a tweet. "This has no place in our game and we fully support the authorities and social media companies to take the strongest possible action to tackle it.”

Tottenham did not disclose which specific abuse was reported to the authorities, but multiple tweets from self-proclaimed West Ham fans calling Son a “dog eating [expletive]” were posted shortly after Son scored his 72nd-minute goal on Sunday.

Racism is a chronic problem in the Premier League and in football across Europe. Last August a Chelsea fan was caught on camera making a racist gesture at Son, two weeks after Wolverhampton Wanderers complained to UEFA due to racism aimed at Hwang Hee-chan during a friendly in Portugal.

Son has faced racist abuse a number of times throughout his career with Tottenham Hotspur. In June last year, 12 men were forced by the police to write public apologies to Son after sharing racist abuse online.

In 2021, Manchester United suspended three season-ticket holders after Son received online abuse after a game. In 2020, a pundit on an Arsenal supporters channel was forced to step down after using derogatory slang to describe Son, and in 2019, a West Ham United supporter was fined for racially abusing him.

The incident in Portugal was also not the first time that Hwang, now in his second season with Wolverhampton, has faced racist abuse. In 2021, when he was first introduced to Wolves fans on the sidelines of a game against Manchester United, United fans sang an offensive chant that references Koreans eating dog meat.

That incident triggered former United star Park Ji-sung to call out his own fans, condemning their continued use of a song that perpetuates racist stereotypes and is targeted at younger Korean players.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]