Arsenal condemn online abuse aimed at journalist

Arsenal have condemned the social media abuse aimed at a journalist after the club responded to one of his posts on Twitter.

Adam Crafton, a Daily Mail sports reporter, wrote a combined XI piece which featured 11 Tottenham players and none from Arsenal ahead of the north London derby on Saturday.

The Gunners went on to win the Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez.

Arsenal’s official Twitter account responded to the journalist’s post, which linked to the original article, with a gif of Mesut Ozil sipping a cup of tea and a wink face emoji after the victory.

However, Crafton says the club’s actions have led to him receiving “anti-Semitic” and “homophobic” abuse from social media users.

A tweet from his account read: “I picked a team. Arsenal won. I look a bit silly. Congrats to Arsenal.

“But since they tweeted it to 12m people, I’ve had all-day harassment on here, including anti-Semitic, homophobic abuse & people wishing me dead.

“I can handle it but would not advise clubs repeat this.”

An Arsenal club spokesman said: “No offence was intended and we are disappointed that the journalist has been subject to abuse which we would condemn in the strongest terms.”