Police are investigating after the wife of Kai Havertz received online abuse following Arsenal’s FA Cup third-round defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
Havertz, 25, had his spot-kick saved by goalkeeper Altay Bayindir as United won 5-3 on penalties after the tie had finished 1-1. The Germany international also missed a chance to score from close range before the end of normal time.
Later on Sunday evening, Sophia Havertz, who married the former Chelsea forward last year, shared screenshots of abusive messages she had received on Instagram, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.
“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,” she wrote in a caption to one of the screenshots.
Hertfordshire Police told The Athletic: “Officers have received a report of malicious communications towards a Hertfordshire resident on Sunday 12 January. Enquiries are underway.”
Arsenal have also employed a specialist data science company to help identify the people responsible. Instagram has since removed the messages for breaching its community guidelines.
Mikel Arteta on Tuesday challenged social media platforms to help “eradicate” incidents of online hate in football.
“We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences,” said Arteta. “It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent on the result of an action.”
He added: “(It’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.”
Arsenal, second in the Premier League table after Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, return to action at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.
(Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
