Mikel Arteta has spoken out against the social media abuse towards Kai Havertz and his pregnant wife after Arsenal’s FA Cup exit to Manchester United, saying it needs to be ‘eradicated’.
Havertz’s wife, Sophia, shared screenshots of abusive direct messages that included threats to her and her unborn child on Instagram in the aftermath of Arsenal’s defeat.
She captioned one of the screenshots, by saying: “For anyone to think it’s okay to write something like this is so shocking to me. I hope you are so ashamed of yourself.”
Asked about the incidents in his pre-Tottenham press conference, Arteta said: “It’s incredible, honestly. We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences. It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent on the result of an action.
“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we win 1-0, and Havertz scores. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective? We are all responsible. You guys (the media) are responsible, everybody is responsible for the narrative and how we talk. We cannot look somewhere else.
“That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry. We can accept it and say that’s our job, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football. What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen.”
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Arsenal had let data science company, Signify, know of the incident over the weekend and they have since been investigating to try and identify the abusers. Should the identities be found, the strongest possible action will be taken.
Arsenal have been partnered with Signify since August 2021 to support the club’s work in protecting players, officials and fans of the club from online hate and discriminatory abuse.
In April 2023, they were responsible for identifying 18 Arsenal members who had sent targeted abusive, threatening, and discriminatory online messages – all of which were then banned by the club.
On the bigger picture, Arteta added: “It’s not about individuals. I think there is a big lesson here to learn from us, it’s how we have conducted, reacted and supported players when they have been through a difficult time.
“You guys just notice sometimes when it is just a professional issue, but there are a lot of personal issues as well going on in the camp. The club and the people here have been exceptional because every time there has been an issue, everybody has been supporting him (Havertz). And the outcome is always clear – the more support you have, the better it is.
“With Kai, in particular, we experienced how it was in the beginning and when everybody started to support him and they were talking about him, about being one of the best No9s in Europe. That’s it. The best medicines are the people who really love the club and love our players, supporting them. That’s what I would like to see.”
Havertz struggled initially after signing for Arsenal from Chelsea but ended his debut season with 14 goals in all competitions. This term, he is Arsenal’s top scorer with 12 goals in all competitions.
On how he provides perspective for Havertz in difficult situations, Arteta said: “In terms of goals it’s very easy. Look at the last 10 years, apart from Ronaldo and Messi, expected goals, and finishing quality there is not a single player who has been stable. It’s very volatile, expected goals and goals are a very volatile thing.
“You want to have the ambition to be there and score a lot of goals, make sure you have prepared to be volatile, if not, you go and be a defender that’s it, it’s part of your job.
“Volatility in respect to your goals is really high; there’s a lot of smoke and a lot of things that you cannot control, the only thing that’s better is a lot of possibilities more expected goals, more situations, be more there, then it’s higher, the finishing quality every single player, apart from those two… (whistles and actions with hand up-down).”
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