‘I’ve been a victim’: Keith Wyness calls for ‘prison’ level consequences after Emmanuel Fernandez abuse
Social media companies should come under greater pressure to stop abuse aimed at footballers after “unacceptable” Rangers player development.
That is according to ex-Aberdeen, Aston Villa, and Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, after Emmanuel Fernandez was one Rangers star racially abused on social media following a 2-2 draw at Livingston.
Fernandez scored Rangers’ first goal of the game and played the full 90 minutes as Danny Rohl’s side suffered a blow to their Scottish Premiership title hopes.
Rangers released a statement calling the abuse that Fernandez, and his teammate Djedi Gassama, received as “unacceptable,” with Police Scotland investigating the matter.
‘Football needs to put pressure on social media companies’
Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – states that abuse needs to be stamped out of the game.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness believes social media companies can fix the issue.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Well, as you say exactly, it’s also coming up in the English league, now the EFL as well, the Premier League. It’s something that I think could be fixed so easily with the social media companies who hold all the power.
“If they could just make people register their names and, you know, stop being the anonymous keyboard warriors. Look, I’ve been the victim of it. We’ve all seen it.
“And in football, everybody that’s been in football has had it and it’s just, it’s a poison. And, you know, it’s these sorts of things that if people said it into you in the street, you’d end up in prison. The fact they think they’re anonymous behind the keyboard is really, you know, it’s wrong, and it should be fixed, and it’s only the social media companies that can fix this.
“And they hide behind the idea of anonymity, but I’m afraid you’ve got to have consequences for your words. It’s completely unacceptable, and I think there’s got to be some actions taken.
“And I think football is one area where we can try and put pressure on those social media companies who, by the way, make a lot of money and a lot of traffic over football issues. I mean, they really need football to keep a lot of their traffic going.
“So I think we do have a say on that as a pressure group. And I think it’s only right that we try and stamp this out wherever we possibly can.”
Rangers set to give away record-breaking fee
Rangers’ clash against Celtic in the Scottish Cup is set to land both clubs a significant windfall from matchday revenue.
The Gers are charging up to £53 a ticket for the clash at Ibrox, with gate receipts therefore expected to exceed £2.5million.
Celtic will be entitled to 37% of the figure under SFA rules for a cup game, meaning they could walk away with up to £925,000, more than if they were to win the competition.