A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of an offence contrary to the Malicious Communication Act after a number of racist and hateful Tweets were posted online in late 2020.

Officers from the Met’s Central Football Unit arrested the man at a Retford address during the early hours of this morning (Monday 8 February). An investigation was launched last year after Chelsea FC identified a number of offensive and hateful Tweets. Today’s action is the culmination of that investigation.

The 21-year-old has since been released under police investigation while enquiries continue.

Inspector Matt Ashmead from the Met’s Central Football Unit, said: “This action proves that the internet is no safe refuge for trolls to target people with hateful, offensive or racist abuse. Online abuse is not victimless and we will look to identify those responsible and take action.”