Premier League club rallies around Nigerian forward after social media attacks following missed penalty against Crystal Palace

Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Rob Edwards has opened up about the tough week endured by Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare, who was subjected to racist abuse after missing a penalty in the club’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Edwards described the emotional toll the online attacks had on Arokodare and detailed the support measures the club has implemented.

“It’s been a really difficult week for him. He was upset and angered by it, understandably so,” Edwards said. “We’ve supported him, and I’ve had a few individual chats with him. We’ve spoken about it as a group as well, to make sure that we get around him and support him. Then he’s had overwhelming support from a lot of Wolves fans and other people reaching out, which is really good.”

Edwards confirmed that the Premier League has also reached out to provide support, expressing frustration that such incidents continue to occur with alarming frequency.

“The Premier League have been in touch, so there’s support there, but again, we’re talking about something that we’re having to deal with far too many times. There have been a number of very high-profile instances over this last week, which is really sad,” Edwards said.

Highlighting the difficulty of identifying perpetrators, Edwards noted that much of the abuse originates from anonymous accounts worldwide. He added that several players under his management have faced similar abuse, making the persistence of such incidents especially painful.

Arokodare is expected to give a statement in the coming days. However, tackling online abuse remains challenging without the cooperation of social media platforms. Meanwhile, the UK Football Policing Unit has launched an investigation amid growing concerns about racist attacks targeting Premier League players.