Manchester United midfielder Fred says 'we cannot feed that culture' after becoming the latest footballer to receive racist abuse online.
The Brazil international was targeted with monkey emojis on Instagram after his side's 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Leicester on Sunday, where he gifted the ball to Kelechi Iheanacho ahead of the Foxes' opening goal.
Alongside an image of himself taking the knee and the message 'No more racism', Fred wrote on Instagram: 'Social media comments filled with hate and, above all, racism: we cannot feed that culture.
'We cannot aceppt (sic) it. We have to fight it always. We are bigger and better than that. Enough!'
Other comments telling the Brazilian to 'go back to the favelas' followed the final-whistle on Sunday, on the same day that 17-year-old Jude Bellingham was also sent racist abuse.
Fred, who also failed to get tight enough to Youri Tielemans when the midfielder drove through to score Leicester's second, was hooked by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after 84 minutes at the King Power Stadium.
Online trolls commented on an Instagram photo which the midfielder posted after United's Europa League victory over AC Milan earlier in the week, with one user repeatedly sending monkey emojis.
Fred has now turned comments off on his Instagram page, with other users having used earlier earlier posts to spout vile racist abuse.
The incidents happened on the same day that Borussia Dortmund and England starlet Bellingham revealed that he had also been targeted online.
Sharing a screenshot on Instagram, the former Birmingham midfielder revealed that he had been sent monkey and faeces emojis along with a number of derogatory comments such as 'f*** your mother'.
Fred is one of several United players to be subjected to abuse in recent weeks.
Marcus Rashford posted a statement about comments directed at him in late January, while Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe were also targeted.
Manchester United have previously condemned abuse directed at their players by 'mindless idiots' and, in a Twitter post quoting Fred's statement on Monday, said: 'We stand together #UnitedAgainstRacism'.
This is not the first time Fred has been on the end of racist abuse in England. A man was arrested and charged following the Manchester derby in December 2019 after being caught making an alleged racist gesture towards the Brazilian from the crowd.
Earlier this month, the UK's football policing lead Detective Chief Constable Mark Roberts said the response of social media companies in assisting the police to identify abusers has been 'woeful'.
At the time a spokesperson for Facebook, which also owns Instagram, said the company 'will continue to work with the police and wider industry to collectively tackle this issue'.