Abdoulaye Doucoure’s celebration of Everton’s dramatic 2-2 draw against Liverpool in February sparked joy at Goodison Park, but it also brought distress to the midfielder.
Doucoure opened his mobile phone after the match to see horrific racist abuse, with hundreds of notifications on his Instagram account, many of them containing discriminatory words and emojis.
The next day, both Everton and Liverpool released a joint statement, coming together to condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of the social media abusers.
The abuse was also picked up by Tim Cooper, the Premier League’s Director of Content Protection, and his 10-person online abuse team.
Discussing the measures undertaken by the unit, the only one of its kind in football, Cooper spoke to The i Paper about the challenges, and explained how being proactive when such abuse happens is the only way to tackle the issue.
The specialist team, which includes lawyers and experienced investigators, monitor every Premier League match looking for what Cooper calls “triggering incidents” - contentious moments which include disputed goals, decisions and also player celebrations.
Removing posts and offering support
“Watching that match you sort of thought, ‘Something’s happened here’ - and it did happen very quickly. It was horrendous in Abdoulaye’s case," he said.
“The volume of messages was extraordinary. He will have just seen his account ‘light up’, and the abuse was really different this time.
Cooper told The i that a number of investigations are currently ongoing in Doucoure’s case.
“It used to be text-based, but Instagram is very emoji-based,” he said. “It was awash with monkey and gorilla gifs and it’s the first time we’ve really seen that, and it’s really difficult to filter that out. We can look for text or emojis but it’s much more difficult with video.
“It was spiteful and obvious what was going on, so we were already working to remove posts straightaway after it happened, and then we were straight into the player to offer support.”
Since the team was established six years ago, they have worked to investigate more than 3,000 cases of online discriminatory abuse.
They also provide emotional wellbeing support for players, their families, and others working in the game, something Doucoure called “very important”. The team’s work forms a core part of the League’s No Room For Racism Action Plan commitment to take action against abuse.
The League’s latest research suggests up to 90 per cent of such abuse comes from overseas.
Neal Maupay and Ivan Toney have both seen the perpetrators of abusive messages convicted or banned due to the efforts of the team, and Cooper says they are driven to making football a better place for everyone in an ever-changing digital landscape.
“This is not about saying ‘Player X should have scored that’ or ‘He’s rubbish,'” Cooper says. “It’s the most egregious types of abuse we’re determined to take action against.
“It can be incredibly complex and difficult but the Premier League is determined to fight the good fight on this. This is a full-time job for us.”
'I received death threats'
Doucoure, who has steadily become more vocal about discrimination, has spoken openly about the racist abuse he suffered after the derby in particular.
“I never used to speak on racism,” he says. “I just tried to cope and ignore it but sometimes you need to speak on these topics and spread the message.
“I understand the frustration about the celebration I had in front of the Liverpool fans, and I accept that they can criticise and say that wasn’t appropriate, but I’m surprised people use discrimination to hurt you. I received death threats, as well as my family, which is going too far.
“We know this happens every weekend for a lot of players and [now] I want to be an example on how to stand against this and send a strong message to people.”
'Education is key'
So Doucoure has given his help to the Premier League’s education resources that offer advice to schoolchildren on issues such as inclusion and discrimination.
He is one of a number of players in a video made available to all primary schools in England and Wales via the Premier League Primary Stars programme, covering the themes of "Racism and Inclusion", "Allyship" and "Challenging Stereotypes".
The players, who also include Fulham’s Calvin Bassey, Leicester City’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Newcastle United Women’s Demi Stokes, discuss discriminatory abuse they have faced or witnessed, as well as offering their views on how to handle racism and being a good ally.
“Education is key,” said Doucoure. “The children have a huge responsibility to change the future, which is why education is important.”
Reinforcing that message during the No Room For Racism period, Doucoure joined ex-Everton star Leon Osman in hosting local schoolchildren at the club’s Finch Farm training ground last week to continue the discussion on inclusion and discrimination.
While in the session, the children asked him to do a special celebration to do the next time he scored. To their delight, Doucoure reproduced it several days later after he struck the winner at Nottingham Forest on Saturday!
Doucoure said in a post-match interview, which you can see below: "I met some kids this week. They asked me to do a celebration if I scored, and I did it for them."
Supporters are encouraged to report racism directed at players, managers, coaches, match officials and their families directly to the Premier League. Details on reporting abuse, including on social media, can be found here.
