SIR LEWIS HAMILTON has slammed the internet trolls who targeted members of the French national team with sickening racist abuse after the World Cup final.
France suffered a devastating World Cup final defeat to Argentina on Sunday.
With the score tied at 3-3 after extra time, the match was decided on penalties and Argentina eventually lifted the trophy after winning the shootout 4-2.
However, after the game some members of the French national team – including Aurelien Tchouameni, Randal Kolo Muani and Kingsley Coman – received vile racist abuse from social media trolls.
Tchouameni has since limited the comments on his Instagram, while Kolo Muani has turned them off completely.
Formula One superstar Hamilton has criticised the racist trolls in a passionate statement on social media.
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In an Instagram story post, he wrote: “Disgusted but not surprised. @Aurelientchm and @R_kolomuani gave it everything.
“They’re heroes to so many and deserve nothing but respect.”
Hamilton also spoke out about the horrific racist abuse suffered by England stars Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho after last summer’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.
In an Instagram post last July, he wrote: “We saw the racial abuse online of the football players, which was devastating to see.
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“It shows that the nation still has a long, long way to go. In my personal opinion it stems from education.
“We also need more support from social media platforms. We had that blackout earlier in the year but it is not enough.
“We need to stop that abuse that happens online. And this commission highlights one of the areas we can improve and I hope it starts a ripple effect of more change going forwards.”
He also wrote: “This sort of ignorance has to be stopped. Tolerance and respect for players of colour should not be conditional. Our humanity should not be conditional.
“Please call out those you see posting hatred online. Challenge them to see the humanity in everyone regardless of their colour.
“Super proud of how far the England team were able to go. Super proud of Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and the entire team.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
