Anthony Martial of Manchester United said people who racially abuse players must be banned. The statement of the Old Trafford's forward was made following a series of online abuse targeted at his teammate Paul Pogba. According to Sky Sports, the Frenchman said racism is not something that could be easily eliminated but that should not prevent authorities from giving out punishment.
According to Anthony Martial as football players, they are just one of the black people, white people, and people of all colors. He even quoted the French expression; we are all the same. The Manchester United forward also said that bans should be brought to people who give away this hatred.
Anthony Martial thinks that people go to stadiums to enjoy the game and have a good time, and hatred has no place for it. He said he is for love and not the hate. Paul Pogba was the target of online racial hate after he missed the penalty kick in the 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton. Martyn Ziegler of The Times said that Twitter will track the profiles of 50 high-profiles players closely to help stop and prevent further abuse. The social networking platform also plans to meet with different teams.
Online racist abuse is one of the primary talking points between 2019 and 2020 campaign after several online incidents. Tammy Abraham of Chelsea was targeted after he failed the penalty shootout loss in his team's match against Liverpool during the UEFA Cup. Chelsea also banned four fans because of racial abuse lashed to Raheem Sterling of Manchester United in the previous season and noted that the abuse happened inside the stadium.
Anthony Martial also talked about his relationship with Marcus Rashford and how training has played a significant role in the team's solid start towards the season. He shared that at training, they have a competition between them about scoring goals where they gauge who performs the most scores and the best finishing. When asked who's winning he shared that it sometimes depends on its Marcus Rashford, sometimes it is him.
Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have both scored twice in a couple of games in the Premier League. Their efforts helped fans quickly forget Manchester United's previous striker Romelu Lukaku. The striker is now with Inter Milan, and the Old Trafford are counting on both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to fill in Lukaku's shoes while they are waiting for his replacement.
