Online hate: South Asian fans on facing 'firing squad of racist abuse'

Eni Aluko and Brentford striker Neal Maupay have been speaking out about online hate directed at football pundits and players.

Aluko criticised X for "allowing people to vomit their hatred unchecked" and says the abuse made her feel unsafe.

And Maupay referred his ordeal to the Premier League's special troll-busting unit, which led to the conviction of one troll who'd targeted him in Singapore.

If you're a fan without access to the services of a dedicated team, your only current option is to report abuse to police or social media sites.

But South Asian football fans have said they feel the hate they get flies under the radar.

Arsenal fan Bhavs Kapoor, who regularly posts about his club on social media, tells BBC Asian Network he receives racist comments "almost on a daily basis".

"Any tweet that I make talking purely about football, there will always be a quote or a comment regarding race, the fact that I'm Asian, or something like that," he says.

Like Bhavs, 24-year-old Tottenham fan Davina Pindoria says she also gets hurtful comments about her ethnicity online too.

"Because I receive so much of it, such a high volume and such high frequency. I've become numb to it," she says.

"Online, you're up against a firing squad of racist abuse."

Davina also posts about her South Asian culture and heritage, but says when she does: "I get even more hate in my DMs".

"People say 'this is not why I followed you'," she says.

"It feels like you can't win."

Liverpool supporter Roopa Vyas has also faced her share of abuse online, and says she used to hide her Indian heritage to try and avoid it.

"I never used to post pictures of me because I didn't want people to see me and then make comments about it," she says.

"It's only quite recently that I have started talking about it. I love everything about who I am, my family, my whole background."

All three fans say that they have two realistic options when it comes to dealing with racist comments - report them or ignore them.

"For me, it's always been a matter of just shut it off and move past it," Bhavs says.

He's worried that for fans like him, speaking out could just attract more abuse.

Bhavs admits it took him a long time to get to this point and there was a stage where he "wouldn't go near" his comments, but doesn't believe reporting abuse to social media companies achieves anything.

Given the volume of negative comments, Davina says reporting every single one would take up her "entire life".

"I often just see the DM notification on 99 and I'd say at least half of them have something to do with my race or gender," she says.

Roopa says she reported an offensive message to a social media company recently but says the platform, which she didn't want to name, "did nothing".

But when she took it to police they agreed it was serious enough to launch an investigation.

"A few years ago, I wouldn't even think to do it," she says.

South Asians aren't the only group that faces racist abuse online but Roopa, Davina and Bhavs agree that, in their view, it's treated differently.

"It's sort of like 'oh, it's just a joke', whereas other forms of racism get a lot more vocally called out," says Davina.

"And they think you're taking the joke too seriously if you choose to get offended. I think it's looked past and accepted a lot more, especially on Twitter."

Speaking to the BBC about the abuse she received, Eni, who has Nigerian heritage, says she was also targeted because of her race with a number of posts featuring offensive emojis.

"It's an attempt to really project inferiority on women and on black people. Because it's not just specific to football, right? This is a generic experience," she said.

Davina says she also gets abuse from other South Asian fans, something she puts down to being a female fan.

"I've unfollowed really big accounts with 50k, 60k followers," she says.

"And what I've faced a lot is like, 'oh, yeah, I'm Asian, so I'm not being racist', even though they've made a blatantly racist comment."

Bhavs adds: "I always feel like, with Asian hate, our communities aren't united to fight against it. It's always just 'let it be, he'll go through it'.

"And that's why there's so many Asian people that are closed off to it because we're just so used to it. It feels like no one actually does anything about it."

A lack of South Asian players in top-flight football is a well-documented issue, with about 1% of UK footballers identifying as such.

That's against those who identify as Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh making up 9.3% of the overall UK population, according to Census 2021 data.

But more are said to be joining the game.

The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), which began recording the number of players with South Asian heritage two years ago, said the figure in England's top four leagues had increased - from 17 to 22 - for a second time during the 2022-23 season.

Anti-racism charity Kick It Out worked with the PFA on efforts to bring in more South Asian players as part of its work to make football more inclusive.

It also tracks reports about various types of racial abuse related to the sport, including online harassment.

The charity doesn't hold specific data on posts targeting South Asian fans, but its chair Sanjay Bhandari tells Asian Network it's putting pressure on social media companies to do more.

"You don't need to wait. This isn't about freedom of speech - this is about people being harassed," he says.

He also thinks that reporting online abuse to police could be clearer, as the charity has found that approaches between forces vary around the country.

X did not respond to Asian Network's request for comment, but says on its site it is committed to combatting abuse and users can report anything which they feels violates policies.

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has also been approached for comment.

If you've been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.

Listen to Ankur Desai's show on BBC Asian Network live from 15:00-18:00 Monday to Thursday - or listen back here.