SOCIAL media platforms and even clubs themselves are frustrating the efforts of police to prosecute racist abuse and provide support to the victims, the UK’s football policing lead has said.

Detective Chief Constable Mark Roberts says the response of social media companies in assisting the police to identify abusers has been “woeful” and said in some cases they had been a “key blocker” to investigations.

And he added that, in some cases, clubs had frustrated investigators in gaining access to players to discuss the abuse they had received.

Online abuse has become an increasing problem during the periods of lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, and DCC Roberts is keen to ensure a “joined-up effort” to tackling abuse in anticipation of venues reopening in the spring.

Roberts wrote to the Premier League and the EFL in January and said he was disappointed by how long it took for them to respond.

He said: “We want to ensure there is a consistent and effective response when football players suffer from online racist abuse.

“We want to work with the clubs, the leagues, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), the CPS and police forces to deliver a streamlined and effective process, so when players are victim to this type of vile abuse, they understand the process and each agency involved is aware of their own responsibilities to provide support and take action.

“Where forces are aware of abuse taking place, they are proactive in seeking to speak to the victim, and identifying those committing the abuse.

“Unfortunately, the response from social media companies is woeful and they can be a key blocker to our investigations and at present we have 16 live investigations, which are awaiting a response from Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

“Gathering key information can take a significant amount of time, with responses taking up to six months, with the offender and their account long deleted from the system.

“At times, it is sometimes harder than it should be to get statements from the players themselves to support a prosecution and on occasion players are reluctant to make a statement.

“This is completely their right as a victim of crime, but this issue is compounded with clubs frustrating investigators gaining direct access to players.”

A Facebook company spokesperson said: “We do not want discriminatory abuse on Facebook or Instagram. We work closely with UK law enforcement and respond to valid legal requests for information in hate speech cases. We will continue to work with the police and wider industry to collectively tackle this issue.”