Manchester United Midfielder Fred Suffers Horrific Racial Abuse On Social Media

Manchester United midfielder Fred has been the victim of racist abuse following the club's FA Cup quarter-final exit.

The Brazil international started in Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Leicester City and made an error in the 24 minute which allowed Kelechi Iheanacho to open the scoring.

Fred's backpass to goalkeeper Dean Henderson didn't have enough power on it and it allowed Iheanacho to latch on and fire home.

Sadly, it has seen abusers flock to his Instagram account and leave vile messages which include monkey emojis.

Comments have since been turned off on the post, which is Fred celebrating Thursday's 1-0 win over AC Milan with Paul Pogba.

It's not the first time a United star has been targetted this season.

Anthony Martial received abuse after a 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion on February 14, while his partner Melanie Da Cruz received abuse in January.

Defender Axel Tuanzebe was a victim after his mistake saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side lose 2-1 to Sheffield United in January.

United are said to be aware of the abuse their players have received.

Star forward Marcus Rashford was also hit that month and took to Twitter to issue a powerful statement.

After a 0-0 draw with Arsenal the 23-year-old said: "Humanity and social media at its worst. Yes I'm a black man and I live every day proud that I am.

"No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you're just simply not going to get it here.

"I'm not sharing screenshots. It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there's nothing original in them. I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don't need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated."

A company spokesperson for Facebook, who own Instagram, said per Sky Sports: "There is no place for racism on Instagram and we are committed to removing it when we find it.

"We have taken action in this case by removing accounts and comments and are continuing to investigate.

"We know there is more to do and we will continue to work closely with clubs, players and football authorities to investigate instances of discrimination and collectively tackle this issue."

The worldwide issue has also seen Chelsea star Reece James and Borussia Dortmund teenager Jude Bellingham suffer racist abuse.