Arsenal: Mikel Arteta demands change in passionate defence of Kai Havertz after social media abuse

Mikel Arteta says football must “eradicate” social media abuse from the game in wake of Kai Havertz’s wife being targeted after Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United.

Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup third round on Sunday, with Havertz missing two great chances in the game and his penalty in the shootout.

Havertz’s wife, Sophia, was the target of social media abuse after the game and revealed the messages she had received on Instagram.

One message read: “I hope you have a miscarriage”. Another said: “I’m gonna come to your house and slaughter your baby I’m not joking just wait”.

Arsenal have contacted Signify - a data science firm that specialises in preventing and managing abuse on social media - and they are investigating to try identify the identity of the abusers. The accounts are also being reported to Instagram, too.

If Arsenal are able to identify those involved, then they will take the strongest action possible against the culprits.

Arteta has condemned the abuse and believes such instances prove how it must be removed from football.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “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 to a result of an action. There is no other industry like this.

“When we played Ipswich on December 27, we win 1-0 and Kai Havertz scores. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’. 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. That’s it.

“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.

“And you guys just notice sometimes when it is just a professional issue, but there is 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.

“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 that really love the club and loves our players, supporting them. That’s what I would like to see.”