FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Brentford v Manchester City - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - February 5, 2024 Brentford's Ivan Toney during the warm up before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Brentford are investigating racist abuse aimed at forward Ivan Toney on social media for the second time in a month, the Premier League side said on Wednesday.
The club said they reported an individual in early January for abusing Toney, who made his return from an eight month ban for breaching betting rules. However, Brentford added that no action had been taken by authorities and a separate similar incident had now occurred.
"We have initiated investigations into this vile harassment which we condemn in the strongest terms," Brentford said in a statement. "Sadly, this isn't the first time Ivan has had to deal with this.
"A similar incident occurred just four weeks ago, leading us to identify an alleged perpetrator whom we reported to the authorities. To date, we have yet to see any action taken against that individual."
The most recent incident occurred on Instagram, the club said.
"The response from social media platforms to these ongoing issues has been underwhelming," Brentford added. "Their solutions, such as filters to simply hide the abuse may safeguard the players, but miss the mark entirely and do not discourage the offenders.
"Without real consequences for those responsible, the cycle is doomed to repeat."
Brentford are 15th in the Premier League standings and face Wolverhampton Wanderers away on Saturday.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing)
