Kris Johnson iGaming Journalist
Kris Johnson is a Charlotte-based deputy editor. He joined CasinoBeats in July 2025 and oversees the daily news flow of editing and publishing. Kris also reports on all aspects of the gambling industry with a...
Read Full BioWolverhampton Wanderers forward Tolu Arokodare failed to convert on a penalty in a recent 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the English Premier League. That prompted one Instagram user to send a direct message that included “vile, racist language.”
The message “illustrated a concerning pattern” that The Athletic investigated. For a sport that has “grown increasingly attached to the gambling industry over the past two decades, there is now an undercurrent to some of the racist abuse.”
Online abuse from bitter bettors has been rampant in recent years, but the latest spate of incidents involving Premier League players is disturbing on several levels. Three other EPL players were targeted during the weekend of February 21-22:
- Wesley Fofana (Chelsea)
- Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley)
- Romaine Mundle (Sunderland)
The four players, all Black, were supported by their clubs in “public statements condemning the abuse and promising a pursuit of criminal action.”
Online Abuse Soars This Season
Anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out revealed that incidents of online abuse are up by 44% this season compared to the same point a year ago. The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) noted that 198 reports “have met the legal hate crime threshold this season, close to the 212 connected to football in all of last season.”
References to gambling weren’t included, but this year’s mid-season figures “are steeply up” from 92 recorded at the mid-way point of the 2024-2025 campaign.
“There is absolutely no place for racial abuse, either online or in person, and anyone who believes they can hide behind their keyboards should think again,” said Mark Roberts, chief constable and head of the UKFPU. “The UKFPU condemns this abhorrent behaviour, and we will ensure that, through our dedicated team of officers, we do everything possible to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”
A Kick It Out spokesperson added, “We are concerned by the links between racist abuse aimed at players and betting. We know of fans who have received banning orders for this behaviour and have gone through our education programme to understand the impact of their actions.
“There can never be any excuse for discrimination, and anyone found guilty of sending it to players should be held accountable.”
Disturbing Trend Surfaces Ahead of 2026 World Cup
The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. North America has witnessed its fair share of abuse for players in a variety of sports, both professionally and collegiately.
Vidhya Ramalingam is the founder and chief executive of Moonshot, an AI firm established to monitor online threats.
“From the U.S. context, and especially after the legalisation of sports betting in the U.S., we found last year that in roughly 30% of the threat cases we were dealing with in U.S. college sports, it was readily apparent that the individual behind the threat had placed a wager on the game’s outcome,” Ramalingam said. “Now I’d expect the actual percentage to be even higher than that because most people don’t broadcast their gambling losses.
Ramalingham added, “We also tend to see an intersection between people who are talking about gambling losses and conspiracy theories about the sport, about the athlete, about the wider gambling industry. They’re basically looking for something to blame.”
Such was the case with this individual, who confronted NBA star Jimmy Butler in New Orleans after losing a parlay.
As angry bettors become more emboldened, watchdogs and law enforcement officials need to remain vigilant.
“The second you start to blend in conspiracy theories, it can take you down a really dangerous path for those that are actually at the receiving end of the abuse,” Ramalingham said.
