Abuse on the rise
Statistics for the English Premier League’s (EPL) 2025-26 season and officials from two top-flight franchises have both confirmed a rise in betting-related racist abuse of the league’s players.
a lost bet has acted as the trigger for racism”
The sports journalism arm of The New York Times revealed on Wednesday that two EPL club officials admitted anonymously that they have seen a pattern to the abuse, namely “a lost bet has acted as the trigger for racism aimed at players.”
The UK’s leading anti-racism campaigner Kick It Out, meanwhile, stated that reports of online abuse for the 2025-26 season are up by 44% over the same stage last season, to now “record levels.”
The Athletic cited multiple “abhorrent messages” sent to four EPL players over the weekend, including to Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Tolu Arokodare who was called a “F***ing n*****.”
Compelling evidence
According to The Athletic, Arokodare posted a screenshot of the abusive message on his Instagram account within an hour of Wolves’ 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace.
The crude, racist message also inferred that the Wolves’ striker, who missed a penalty in the game, had ruined a bet. “F***ing n***** sold my parlay again,” the message began.
Chelsea’s French defender Wesley Fofana and Burnley’s Tunisian midfielder Hannibal Mejbri were also the victims of racist abuse after their two teams played to a 1-1 tie on Saturday. Young English winger Romaine Mundle, 22, was targeted with abuse on Sunday after his side Sunderland’s 3-1 defeat by Fulham. Mundle, Arokodare, and Fofana are black while Mejbri is North African.
There is absolutely no place for racial abuse, either online or in person.”
All four players’ franchises publicly condemned the abuse and promised to pursue criminal action. The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU)’s Chief Constable Mark Roberts issued a statement on Monday saying: “There is absolutely no place for racial abuse, either online or in person.”
The UKFPU, however, has also noted a steep climb in abuse statistics, citing “198 reports that have met the legal hate crime threshold” for 2024-2025, compared to 212 connected to soccer for the whole 2023-2024 season.
A case involving the son of Liberian soccer legend Christopher Wreh is, according to reports, the only case the UKFPU has brought to a conclusion where there has been a direct link between racist abuse and gambling.
The case of Christopher Wreh
Wreh’s son, also named Christopher, was abused after his Tamworth side ran Tottenham Hotspur ragged in the FA Cup third round last January, before succumbing 3-0 to the EPL side.
Wreh later looked at his social media accounts and found “the last thing I expected to see when I opened Instagram.” Wreh took to X with a screenshot of a direct message spouting racist abuse and complaining a £20 ($27) bet had been lost.
Police were able to identify the abuser via his Instagram account as Harry Dunbar, a 20-year-old living in Whiteley, Hampshire. Dunbar told police he sent the racist abuse because he had lost a bet on Tamworth’s FA Cup tie with Tottenham. He pleaded guilty in April and was handed a three-year order banning him from attending any “professional matches played in the UK until 2028.”
Referencing the “vile and hateful language” used by Dunbar, Senior Crown Prosecutor Gavin Sumpter stated at the sentencing last June that Dunbar “lost a simple bet, and in a moment of anger, chose to break the law.”
