By Mark Gleeson
ATLANTA, June 30 (Reuters) - Netherlands players who missed penalties in Monday’s World Cup penalty shootout defeat by Morocco suffered racist abuse online, the Dutch football association (KNVB) said on Tuesday.
Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all failed to find the net as Morocco edged the Dutch 3-2 on penalties after their last-32 match in Monterrey ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time, and were subjected to discriminatory, racist and hateful comments on social
media, said the KNVB.
"We find this appalling, and we will file a case with ‘Meld Online Discriminatie’ (Report Online Discrimination).
“Once a report is filed, their legal staff assess whether the statement constitutes a punishable offence. This can lead to a formal complaint being lodged with the Public Prosecution Service, which may then initiate a criminal investigation," the FA added.
This is not the first time players have faced racist online abuse after missing penalties at a major tournament.
England’s Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho suffered abuse following the European Championship final loss to Italy in 2021, leading to two people being sentenced to prison and another receiving a suspended sentence.
In the weeks following the tournament, British police arrested multiple individuals as part of a widespread crackdown on online hate speech targeting the players.
"Football brings together millions of different people, whereas discrimination does the exact opposite. It therefore runs counter to everything football stands for," added the KNVB.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris)
