A man has pleaded guilty to racially abusing Newcastle United striker Ivan Toney on social media while the player was on loan at Wigan Athletic. Calvin White, 25, of Sunderland, admitted to a racially aggravated public order offence after sending an abusive message to Toney in December 2017.
Wigan Athletic reported the post to Twitter and Greater Manchester Police, leading to White's prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 120 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay £170 in costs.
In a statement, Wigan Athletic said they immediately notified authorities after seeing the post and cooperated fully to identify the offender. The club emphasised that discriminatory abuse is unacceptable, whether online or offline.
Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out applauded Wigan's swift action, stating that there is no hiding place for such behaviour. However, they noted that more work is needed to tackle discrimination in football and educate offenders.
Toney, now a striker for Newcastle, was on loan at Wigan when the incident occurred. The case highlights ongoing efforts to combat online abuse in sport.
