Ghana international forward Antoine Semenyo has reported fresh racial abuse targetting him on social media. The Man City player showcased a stunning display during his side’s match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London, on Sunday, April 12.

The recent abuse marks the second time in the 2025/26 English Premier League season.

Semenyo, who completed the full 90 minutes, later shared a post on Instagram celebrating the victory but was met with a racially abusive comment.

Responding to the abuse, he wrote: “It’s started again…”, referencing a previous incident in December 2025 during his spell at AFC Bournemouth, when he was targeted following a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool.

The incident has reignited concerns about the persistent problem of online racism in football, despite ongoing anti-discrimination campaigns across the sport.

Meanwhile, the Ghana international was subjected to racist abuse during a clash on Friday, August 15, against Liverpool.

During the first half of the Premier League opener, Semenyo was preparing to take a throw-in when a 47-year-old man made an offensive comment at him. According to reports, Semenyo asked the man to repeat what he said; he did and even threw gum at him.

Semenyo immediately reported the incident to referee Anthony Taylor, who paused the match in the 28th minute. The suspect was subsequently seen leaving the stadium with police and was later held in custody for a racially aggravated public order offence, according to Merseyside Police on Monday.

He was, however, granted bail on the condition that he does not attend any regulated football match in the UK and is prohibited from going within one mile of any designated football stadium. A police investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Reacting to the incident, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, in an official statement issued on Sunday, August 17, said the sport has zero tolerance for discrimination and any form of abuse, praising Antoine’s resilience and strong display despite the emotional distress.

“It is absolutely unacceptable to see the racist abuse aimed at AFC Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, which led to a stoppage of their Premier League match against Liverpool FC at Anfield last night. Football has no place for racism or any form of discrimination. Antoine’s courage and performance on the pitch, despite such adversity, is a powerful example of strength and dignity for players worldwide,” parts of the statement read.

Meanwhile, in May last year, FIFA announced that it had put forward a five-pillar plan aimed at addressing racist abuse in football.

The global governing body stated that it had engaged in an extensive consultation process with current and former players who are committed to instigating change.

One of the plan's key suggestions involves implementing a standard crossed-hands gesture for players to signal racist incidents during matches.

The first pillar of the proposal intends to make racism a specific offence which is included in all member associations’ disciplinary codes and has its own “specific and severe sanctions, including match forfeits”.

Fifa said it will “pause, suspend and abandon games in cases of racism”.

The crossed-hands gesture will be used by referees to signal an in-game procedure in which matches are paused twice and warnings are given, with the game to then be abandoned in the event of further racism.

In pillar three – ‘criminal charges’ – Fifa called for racism to be recognised as a criminal offence in every country, and said it would push for severe sanctions in the countries where it is already an offence.

Fifa also said it would promote education initiatives with schools and governments to “provide a future free of racism”, while an anti-racism panel made up of former players will be set up to review the progress of the proposal.

In 2023, a FIFA report found almost 20,000 abusive social media posts were aimed at players, coaches and officials during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

And in 2021, England manager Gareth Southgate called the racist abuse aimed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final “unforgivable”.