Abuse of Tallaght’s Jonathan Afolabi condemned by Dundee
By Daire Walsh
Dundee have moved to condemn what they describe as “vile racist messages” received by Republic of Ireland U21 international Jonathan Afolabi on social media.
Having found the net for the Dens Park men in their extra-time Scottish Cup win over Bonnyrigg Rose on Saturday evening, Afolabi was subjected to a torrent of abuse from one user on his Instagram account.
The Tallaght man shared the messages he was sent on his platform and in a statement released on Sunday, Dundee revealed this is the second incident of this nature they’ve had to confront in 2021 alone.
“Dundee Football Club utterly condemns racism in any form. Racism has no place in society.
“We have reported these unacceptable messages and will look into what further steps can be taken.
“Sadly, this isn’t the first incident in the last seven days which has seen one of our players being subjected to abuse.
“After last weekend’s match with Heart of Midlothian, another player received disgusting messages which have also been reported,” the statement read.
The son of Nigerian parents, Afolabi (who turns 21 on Thursday) is currently on loan at Dundee from Celtic.
Having lined out for Lourdes Celtic, Shamrock Rovers and St Joseph’s Boys at youth level, he was subsequently snapped up by Southampton in 2016.
He went on to represent The Saints’ underage sides on five occasions in the Football League Trophy, before making the switch to Parkhead in August 2019.
He scored two goals in six loan appearances at Dunfermline Athletic last season and now has three goal in 10 games (all competitions) for Dundee in their current campaign.