Racial Abuse: Man Faces Three-Year Stadium Ban

A 24-year-old British man, Antonio Neill, has been banned from every stadium in the United Kingdom for three years after he racially abused Brentford football star, Ivan Toney, on social media.

English Police have described the ruling as a “landmark ruling,” being the first of its kind to be issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022, according to Sky Sports.

The 24-year-old sent the racist message to Toney on October 14 last year, who shared a picture of the abuse received via his Instagram account. Northumbria Police supported by the Metropolitan Police afterwards, launched a full investigation into the matter.

The message, which officers treated as a hate crime, was traced to a suspect who was then living in the North Shields area and on January 25, Neill, of Robert Street, Blyth, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message when he appeared before magistrates in Newcastle.