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Rabat – Three Netherlands players were subjected to racist abuse online after missing penalties in their team’s World Cup shootout defeat to Morocco.
Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville received large numbers of offensive and discriminatory messages on social media following the round-of-32 match in Monterrey.
The Netherlands were eliminated after Morocco won the shootout 3-2. The match had ended 1-1 following extra time.
Shortly after the final whistle, the players’ Instagram pages were flooded with hateful comments. Dutch media reported that some messages contained racist language, monkey images and offensive emojis.
The abuse led Timber to disable comments on his posts. Kluivert and Summerville also restricted their accounts so that only people they follow could leave replies.
Three misses decide the shootout
Kluivert, Timber and Summerville were the three Dutch players who failed to score during the penalty shootout.
Kluivert sent goalkeeper Yassine Bounou the wrong way but struck the post.
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Timber then placed his effort wide, before Bounou saved Summerville’s penalty to give Morocco the chance to complete the victory.
Ismael Saibari converted Morocco’s final kick, sending the Atlas Lions into the World Cup round of 16.
Missing a penalty in a major tournament can bring criticism, but the comments directed at the Netherlands players went far beyond football.
A missed kick has no connection to a player’s skin color or family background. Racist abuse cannot be treated as part of the pressure that comes with professional sport.
KNVB condemns online abuse
The Royal Dutch Football Association said it considered the messages “terrible” and confirmed that it would report the content to Meld.Online Discriminatie, the Dutch online discrimination reporting service.
Legal specialists will examine the messages and decide whether any of them may represent criminal offenses.
The case could eventually be referred to the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service for further investigation.
The KNVB said discrimination goes against everything football should represent.
The sport brings together people from different backgrounds, while racist abuse attempts to divide players from the country they represent.
The fact that the messages came after a Netherlands defeat makes the incident even more disturbing.
Kluivert, Timber and Summerville were selected to represent the national team and accepted responsibility by stepping forward during the shootout. Their penalties did not go in, but that does not justify personal attacks of any kind.
A repeated problem after penalty defeats
The incident recalls the racist abuse directed at England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
Despite years of campaigns and public statements, players continue to face the same treatment when results turn against their teams.
The Netherlands had also supported campaigns against online hate before the World Cup.
Those efforts now face another serious test, with the KNVB expected to work with authorities and social media platforms to identify the accounts responsible.
Football associations cannot stop every message before it is posted, but they can make clear that anonymity does not guarantee protection from consequences.
Platforms also have a responsibility to remove racist content quickly instead of leaving players to protect themselves by closing their comment sections.
