Former Chelsea and Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has called for actions to be taken by football federations and social media platforms.
The now Inter Milan forward was a victim of racial abuse from Cagliari supporters after just his second game in Italy.
As he stepped up to take a penalty on Sunday evening, which he dispatched with ease, there were a series of racist chants directed at the Belgian international.
This needs to stop... now.
In a post on Instagram following the abuse, Lukaku highlighted that many players had been racially abused in the last month.
He said: ”Many players in the last month have suffered from racial abuse... I did yesterday to.
“Ladies and gentleman, it's 2019 - instead of going forward, we're going backwards and I think as players we need to unify and make a statement on this matter to keep this game clean and enjoyable for everyone.
"Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone we shouldn't accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame.
“Social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook..) need to work better as well with football clubs because everyday you see at least a racist comment under a post of a person of colour.. we've been saying it for years and still no action..
"I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination!!!"
This comes after former teammates Kurt Zouma, Tammy Abraham, and Paul Pogba were racially abused online this season.
Both United and Chelsea released club statements branding the comments on their respective players as “disgusting”, while Kick It Out and a number of other Premier League footballers stated that the likes of Twitter and Instagram need to do more.
A potential solution?
One of those players was the most expensive defender in football, Harry Maguire.
The new Red Devils’ defender went public in August after his teammate, Pogba, was the subject to online abuse after missing a penalty in United’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Maguire, 26, called on social media giants to do more in the fight against racist abuse and believes companies like Twitter and Instagram should verify every account in order to crack down on online trolls.
His tweet read: “Social media need to do something about it... Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people.”
Whether this is the solution to stamping down and eradicating racial abuse from society and football or not, one needs to be found, and quickly.