Police are now investigating social media abuse aimed at Arsenal forward Kai Havertz’s wife following the club’s exit to Manchester United in the FA Cup.
The forward, 25, missed a chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved by United’s Altay Bayindir in the shootout on January 12.
His partner, Sophia – who is expecting her first child with the Germany international – reposted two abusive messages she had received on social media platform Instagram. Arsenal tasked data technology company Signify with determining the identity of the abusers.
A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “Officers have received a report of malicious communications towards a Hertfordshire resident on Sunday 12 January. Enquiries are underway.”
Sophia described one message as ‘shocking’ and urged her half-a-million followers to be ‘more respectful’. “For anyone to think it’s okay to write something like this is so shocking to me. I hope you are so ashamed of yourself,” Sophia wrote online as she shared the messages.
Speaking on the eve of Arsenal’s Premier League match against Tottenham, manager Mikel Arteta called for action to be taken, and said: “It’s incredible, honestly. We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action. There is no other industry like this.
“When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?
“We are all responsible. You guys (the media) are responsible, everybody is responsible for the narrative and how we talk. We cannot look somewhere else. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.
“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football. What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”