Granit Xhaka and Hector Bellerin were targeted with online abuse by Arsenal season-ticket holders, a study has claimed.
Analysis by Signify, a data science company, found 16 examples of racist abuse towards Xhaka and other instances of homophobic jibes towards Bellerin in December 2020.
Arsenal told Sky Sports News they will take the "strongest possible action" against any abuser that is linked directly to their season ticket or membership database.
The abuse was not just directed at Gunners players, however, as Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger, who revealed he suffered "immense" racial abuse online after Frank Lampard's sacking, received "aggressive" posts from season-ticket holders of rival clubs.
The report says a 30-day analysis of Xhaka's name on Twitter around the Premier League fixture between Arsenal v Burnley on December 13 revealed:
- 2,004 posts of which 1,374 were marked as potentially containing abuse
- 52 per cent of abusive posts occurred on the day of the Burnley match
- 16 instances of targeted racist abuse, including posts from accounts who self-identify as Arsenal season ticket holders
- Six posts expressed a desire to carry out violence on Xhaka
- Top three most abusive accounts are also the most prolific
- Data is drawn from 117,481 mentions of 'Xhaka' on public Twitter
Following a supportive message by Bellerin in December 2020 backing a campaign to tackle homophobia in football by the Gay Gooners LGBT+ supporter group, the study found an "inordinate amount of targeted homophobic abuse".
The report noted: "Some of these messages have been reported but remain online… after being posted."
'We take the strongest possible action'
A spokesperson for Arsenal said one of the club's biggest challenges is rooting out the perpetrators of online abuse who are anonymous.
"We all need to work together to drive online abuse out of our game and off our social networks," they said.
"The effect on individuals can be very deep and we work closely with our players and staff to help them deal with the impact. This includes support from sports psychologists and our social media team.
"As a club, one of the biggest challenges we face is identifying the perpetrators and linking them directly to our season ticket or membership databases.
"When we do have that information, we take the strongest possible action. This includes reporting to the police and membership bans from our club.
"Ultimately we all have to work together to stop the abuse and we fully support the Premier League's recent statement calling on social media platforms to take more action to prevent abuse appearing online, including requiring all users to be subject to a verification process."
A Twitter spokesperson added they would act swiftly on the "minority" that try to undermine the conversation for the majority.
Signify CEO, Jonathan Hirshler, said their work can identify "prolific" abusers who hide behind the cloak of anonymity online.
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"Just as technology has driven this problem, developments in artificial intelligence can now be part of the solution," he said.
"Our technology can scan millions of pieces of content and identify the most abusive using publicly available data.
"We pair this with our open-source investigation capability and in more cases than not, we can also verify the 'true life' identities of prolific abusers who hide their real profiles."
