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Kent Police question teen from Dartford over abusive social media messages sent to Swansea City footballer Yan Dhanda

A teenager from Kent has been questioned over racially abusive messages sent to Championship player Yan Dhanda.

The Swansea City midfielder reported being targeted on social media following his side's 3-1 loss to Man City in February.

Yan Dhanda has spoken out previously about suffering racist incidents Picture: yandanda/Instagram
Yan Dhanda has spoken out previously about suffering racist incidents Picture: yandanda/Instagram

The messages have been linked to an address in Dartford.

A spokesman for the force said: "In May, Kent Police received a referral from South Wales Police relating to offensive messages reported to have been sent to a man on social media.

"The messages had been linked to an address in Dartford, and following further enquiries a 14-year-old boy attended a police station for a non-custodial interview on Thursday."

The spokesman added the investigation is ongoing.

In November Dhanda spoke to BBC Sport about how many people told him, growing up, he would not make the professional game because of his British Asian background.

Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were racially abused after missing penalties against Italy Picture: Nick Potts/PA
Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were racially abused after missing penalties against Italy Picture: Nick Potts/PA

The 22-year-old told the news channel: "When I was young I got a lot of racism, being Asian, probably because I was better than other kids."

Dhanda is a former England Under-17 international, is one of only 10 British Asians among around 4,000 professional footballers in the United Kingdom.

He transferred to Swansea in 2018.

After the Euro 2020 final in July England manager Gareth Southgate said racist abuse aimed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the team's final defeat by Italy was "unforgivable".

He was joined in the condemnation by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

All three players missed penalties in the 3-2 shootout loss and were targeted on social media after the game.

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Read more: The latest sports news in Kent

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