Marcus Rashford Is The Second-Most Abused Sportsperson On The Planet According To New Study

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is the second most-abused sportsperson in the world according to a new study.

The 24-year-old is one of England's most famous athletes and received an MBE for his campaigning against child food poverty late last year.

Rashford is vocal when it comes to social issues, with trolls attacking him for not 'focusing' on his football.

He missed a penalty in last summer's Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy and was targeted with racial abuse, as were teammates Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.

A new survey from Pickwise has analysed every tweet sent to sports stars worldwide and it's concluded Rashford has been trolled 32,328 times in a year.

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Only NBA titan LeBron James has been abused more than Rashford on social media, with his number sitting at a staggering 122,568.

Tom Brady, the NFL legend who came out of retirement last weekend, rounds out the top three with 28,151 insults.

The closest footballer to Rashford is United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo has faced 11,757 counts of trolling in the last 12 months, during which he's moved from Juventus back to United.

Mesut Ozil is the only other footballer in the top 10 and the Fenerbahce star has been insulted 11,192 times.

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Check out the entire top 20 below:

20. Paul Pogba (Football, 7349 insults)

9. Odell Beckham Jr. (American football, 7451 insults)

18, Lamar Jackson (American football, 7856 insults)

17. Kyrie Irving (Basketball, 7860 insults)

16. Michael Thomas (American football, 8051 insults)

15. James Harden (Basketball, 9220 insults)

14. Deshaun Watson (American football, 9293 insults)

13. Stan Collymore (Football, 9659 insults)

12. Dez Bryant (American football, 10163 insults)

11. Juju Smith Schuster (American football, 10164 insults)

10. Mesut Ozil (Football, 11,192 insults)

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9. Steph Curry (Basketball, 11,203 insults)

8. Cristiano Ronaldo (Football, 11,757 insults)

7. Trevor Bauer (Baseball, 14,083 insults)

6. Damian Lillard (Basketball, 20,904 insults)

5. Bubba Wallace (NASCAR, 21,750 insults)

4. Kevin Durant (Basketball, 24,370 insults)

3. Tom Brady (American football, 28,151 insults)

2. Marcus Rashford (Football, 32,328 insults)

1. LeBron James (Basketball, 122,568 insults)

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Rashford attempted to confront a heckler in the aftermath of United's elimination from the Champions League in midweek.

Following Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid, Rashford was shouted at as he left Old Trafford.

He turned around and walked towards them before being ushered away by stewards.

Rashford apologised for the incident on social media, but denied making an obscene gesture with his hand.