Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen says he has received 300-400 abusive messages on Instagram after he was involved in an incident that saw Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez sent off.
Nunez was shown a red card after 57 minutes of Monday’s 1-1 draw when he reacted to a shove from Andersen with a headbutt that floored the Dane.
Andersen posted examples of the abuse, some of which included death threats.
He has called on Instagram and the Premier League to act.
“Got maybe 3-400 of these messages last night,” the 26-year-old said. “I understand you support a team but have some respect and stop acting tough online.”
He added: “Hope Instagram and the Premier League do something about this.”
Palace are set to speak to Andersen to offer support. BBC Sport understands the player is fine but felt “enough was enough” and had to speak up about the abuse.
It is also understood one of the people who sent him an abusive message has reached out to apologise, saying he had sent it when “very drunk” and now felt “so stupid and was very sorry”.
A Premier League spokesman confirmed the governing body had also been in touch with Palace to offer help.
A spokesperson for Meta, the owners of Instagram and Facebook, said: “We have strict rules against bullying and harassment and we are in direct contact with Joachim’s team on the issue.
“Because DMs are private spaces, we don’t proactively look for hate speech or bullying in the same way we do in other places, and we need someone to report the message in app before we can take action.
“No one thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we’re continuing our work with the industry and Government to help keep our community safe from abuse.”
In June it was announced that people convicted of football-related online hate crime can now receive banning orders that stop them from attending matches.
A 2021 PFA study found 44% of Premier League players received abuse online.