A FAN who racially abused England striker Ivan Toney online has been banned from every ground in the country in a legal first.
Antonio Neill, 24, was barred from domestic matches for three years and will be stopped from going abroad to watch international games of any kind.
He was the first person to be banned under a 2022 law, which widened the scope for orders to be issued for online hate crimes linked to football.
Police said they hoped the sentence would send a strong message that racism would not be tolerated.
The player’s club, Brentford FC, added: “Ivan Toney has been subject to sickening racist abuse on a regular basis, and we want to see tough action taken against anyone found guilty of such abuse.”
Neill, of Blyth, Northumberland, sent the racist Instagram message in October.
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Police tracked him down after Toney, 26, shared it online.
He pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message when he appeared at Newcastle magistrates’ court in January.
Neill apologised to the player, saying he was disgusted with himself.
At the same court on Monday, he got a four-month suspended jail term along with the ban.
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Hate crime chief at Northumberland Police, Supt Scott Cowie, said: “Discrimination has absolutely no place in society.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
