Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce says it is “shameful but not surprising” that football continues to be blighted by racism.
European football’s governing body Uefa has launched an official investigation following Vinicius Jr’s allegation of racism against Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni during Real Madrid’s Champions League game in Lisbon.
Vinicius has said “racists are cowards”, while Prestianni has denied racially abusing the Brazil forward.
Tullis-Joyce knows from personal experience how deep the problem is and the United States international is saddened racism remains part of football.
“I’m the daughter of a black woman, so I have been adjacent to the experience of a black woman in society,” she said.
“It’s no surprise to me. I think it’s very shameful that situations like that are continuing to happen.
“I also just recently met with United’s campaign ‘All Red All Equal’ so, I know on our doorstep, we’re looking internally at what we’re doing as a club.
“That’s where I think we can really look at what we do locally at United and then keep branching out through our social media or content and make sure that people know it’s just simply not OK. Period. Full stop. It’s not OK.”