The truly staggering levels of social media abuse meted out to Premier League football players

Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out says that during this Premier League season (so far) there have been 134,400 abusive social media posts directed against clubs and players.

Chelsea were the most targeted club, with Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli receiving more abuse than any other player.

Kick It Out director Roisin Wood said the level of abuse was "truly staggering".

The vast majority of abusive posts were submitted on Twitter (88 per cent), followed by Facebook (eight per cent).

Graphic via Statista

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