Everton condemn abuse of Tarkowski and family after wife posts of death threats

Everton have strongly condemned abuse directed at their defender James Tarkowski after Wednesday’s Merseyside derby. The centre-back was targeted for his tackle on Alexis Mac Allister, which resulted in a yellow card but led to an acknowledgment from Premier Game Match Officials Ltd that the video assistant referee was wrong not to recommend an upgrade to a red.

Tarkowski’s wife, Samantha, posted on Instagram on Thursday that they had received, among other things, death threats.

“Everton Football Club is aware of threats made towards James Tarkowski and his family on social media. Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and has no place in football or society,” a statement said. “The club is liaising with James and his wife Samantha and stands ready to engage with the social media companies and assist the police with any potential investigation. Everton strongly condemns any form of online or offline intimidation, threats or abuse directed at players, staff or their families.”

Samantha Tarkowski had posted: “The level of abuse my husband is receiving – wishing death on him, vile comments about me, about us as a couple, and about him as a person – is beyond disgusting.

“People forget that he is more than just a footballer. He is a husband, a father, a brother, a friend, and most importantly, the father of our two children. He goes out there and does his job and does it very fucking well yet he’s subjected to so much hate. For those acting like he deliberately set out to hurt someone – r u serious?!

skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Football Daily Free daily newsletter Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion

“Football moves at speed, and tackles are split-second decisions. No player goes out there to injure someone and do you think any player would feel good about it if they did? But the pure shit messages, the threats? That’s intentional. That’s on you. Football is a sport, but the way some so-called ‘fans’ behave is disgraceful. The abuse, the threats – it’s not passion, it’s pathetic. We’re real people, and this goes far beyond football.”

Click here to read article