Man United Bans SIX Fans For Social Media Online Abuse Of Tottenham's Heung-Min Son.

Manchester United have banned SIX fans season ticket holders after they racially abused Tottenham Hotspur's forward Heung-Min Son on social media earlier this month, the Premier League club said on Friday.

Spurs had issued a statement following their 3-1 Premier League defeat to United on April 11, condemning the “abhorrent racial abuse” targeted to the South Korean after the fixture.

Son was involved in a controversial moment during the game, as VAR ruled out an Edinson Cavani goal on 33 minute after Scott McTominay was adjudged to have fouled the Spurs forward in the build-up to the disallowed goal.

“Another matchday and more abhorrent racial abuse suffered by one of our players. This has again been reported to the platforms and we shall now undertake a full review alongside the Premier League to determine the most effective action moving forward. We stand with you, Sonny!... Reads a statement issued by Spurs.

Manchester United also confirmed they have been doing their own investigations against the six individuals over the abuse, as they would be sanctioned for breaching club rules.

"Regretfully, suspensions have been issued, subject to appeal, to three season ticket holders, two official members and one individual on the season ticket waiting list," United said in a statement.

"This disciplinary action demonstrates the club's commitment to the fight against discrimination on many fronts."

The announcement coincided with this weekend’s four-days social media boycott plans, where a coalition of football's largest governing bodies and organisations, including the Premier League, EFL, Women football, as well as other sports governing bodies, sponsors, partners, broadcasters and various media outlets have come on board to go silent on social media platforms in a show of solidarity against sustained, sickening and online abuse.

The social media boycott will begin from 3pm local time (1400 GMT) on Friday 30th April, to 11:59 pm on Monday, May 3rd as protest.

Former Juventus, Arsenal, and Barcelona star Thierry Henry had removed himself from social media last month because of racism and bullying across the platforms.

The 1998 World Cup winner with France had called for football’s social media boycott as a “start" of solidarity against online abuse” and in the hopes of encouraging companies to take a stronger stance against racism and discrimination on their platforms.

Man United has also conducted their own report and reviewed the level of abusive words aimed at their players from September 2019 to February 2021 across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The club found out that 3,300 abusive posts were aimed at their players across those social media platforms. The results also showed that there's has been a 350% increase in abuse directed towards their players with 86% of those posts being racist, while 8% were homophobic or transphobic.

Chelsea also issued a 10-year ban to a supporter on Friday morning of the boycott for posting anti-Semitic message online before joining other English football clubs and beyond in the social media shut down.

“Following the conclusion of court proceedings in February, the Club conducted our own investigation into the matter and has taken the decision to ban the individual from Chelsea FC for a decade... The West London club said in a statement.

“Everybody at Chelsea is proud to be part of a diverse club. Our players, staff, fans and visitors to the club come from a wide range of backgrounds, including the Jewish community, and we want to ensure everyone feels safe, valued and included.

“We will not tolerate any behaviour from supporters that threatens that aim."

CloudNine Sports also understands that Formula One star Sir Lewis Hamilton is also ready to join the boycott on the weekend of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion, who has 22million followers on Instagram and more than six million on Twitter, said: “I am fully supportive of the initiative.

“If me doing it helps put pressure on those platforms in order to help fight against it then, for sure, I am happy to do so.”

Formula One also issued a statement supporting the boycott, saying: “We continue to work with all platforms and our own audiences to promote respect and positive values and put a stop to racism."