British police have arrested a man over a racist Tweet directed at Egyptian and Liverpool footballer Mohamed Salah. Arch-rival Everton are investigating if the offensive message was sent by someone linked to their club.
“Following enquiries a 32-year-old man from Waterloo was arrested shortly before 9.30am today (Thursday 8 August 2019) on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence, and obstructing an officer in the execution of their duty,” a spokesperson for Liverpool’s Merseyside police said.
“Merseyside Police is aware of an offensive Tweet posted in relation to a Liverpool footballer, which was shared by others, and will be investigating the matter.
“Hate crime in any guise will not be tolerated and those who use the Internet to target others, and who commit a criminal offence such as hate crime in doing so, need to understand that they are not beyond the law.”
The slur, which has since been taken down but shared by multiple people online, has been condemned by Everton Football Club who said they condemned racism in the strongest terms.
“We have shared the material with the appropriate authorities and are looking into the matter further to understand if the Twitter user in question is known to the Club in any way,” Everton said.
The racist post comes after Salah gave millions of dollars to the Egyptian hospital hit by a suspected terrorist attack last week that killed 20 people and injured another 47.
He reportedly donated $3 million (Dh11 million) to the National Cancer Institute in Cairo. “My full support and condolences to the families of victims and victims of the explosion of the Oncology Institute,” Salah tweeted soon after the attack.
