Burnley have released a strong statement condemning racial abuse suffered by young midfielder Hannibal Mejbri following the Premier League match against Chelsea.
The Clarets exited Stamford Bridge with a respectable draw following Zian Flemming's stoppage-time equaliser. Hannibal played the full match as the relegation strugglers put in a decent performance in west London.
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However, the 23-year-old took to social media after the game to point out the horrendous DMs he had received. Highlighting one example, the ex-Manchester United youngster posted a screenshot of an abusive message he was sent on Instagram with the caption 'pfft...'.
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General view of Turf Moor
General view of Turf Moor
The Turf Moor club have put out a statement which condemns the message and reiterates that 'there is no room for racism'. Posted to the club website, it reads:
"Everyone at Burnley FC is disgusted by the online racist abuse directed at Hannibal following today’s Premier League fixture. There is no place for this in our society and we condemn it unreservedly.
"The club continues to be unequivocal in its stance – we have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination."
The incident has been reported to Instagram and the police, with the Premier League club hoping to see action taken against the individual involved. "The club has reported the post to Instagram’s parent company, Meta, and expects strong support from them, together with the Premier League and the Police, and will work to ensure that the individual responsible is identified and investigated," Burnley added.
The strong message concluded: "Hannibal will receive the full backing from the club and from the Burnley fans who we have already seen condemning the abuse. There is no room for racism."
Hannibal's follow-up story on Instagram was accompanied by the caption: "It’s 2026 and there [are] still people like that…"
Burnley Hannibal Mejbri
It's not the first time the Tunisia international has been subjected to racial abuse over a football match. Preston North End's Milutin Osmajic was fined £21,000 by the FA last season after being charged with an "aggravated” breach of their rules.
The Championship player denied the allegations made against him but was ordered to undergo an education course. Meanwhile, he was also slapped with a nine-match suspension.
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Racial abuse is a widely discussed topic in world football at the moment, especially after Vinicius Jr alleged that Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni insulted him with a derogatory term in a Champions League fixture this week. Burnley's strong statement in response to the message received by Hannibal sums up the matter perfectly.