French footballer and Manchester United star, Paul Pogba, was forced to delete a recent Instagram post after he received a barrage of Islamophobic backlash from so-called “fans.”
On Sunday, the twenty-eight-year-old posted a snapshot holding his hands up in prayer in front of the Kaaba in Makkah, a sacred site for Muslims, alongside the caption:
“Ya Allah! Guide us in the right path, Ya Allah accept our good deeds ,Ya Allah you are the one that forgives so forgive us. Amine! May Allah accept our Duas brothers and sisters.”
Ig Pogba: "Ya Allah !Guide us in the right path, Ya Allah accept our good deeds ,Ya Allah you are the one that forgives so forgive us 🤲🏾 Amine! May Allah accept our Duas brothers and sisters" [paulpogba] pic.twitter.com/DeSeJ6qIYn
— utdreport (@utdreport) January 23, 2022
But within minutes, it was targeted by racist trolls, who flooded the comment section with Islamophobic and anti-Black comments.
And just 2 hours later, the post was deleted from Pogba’s account.
After the news was of its removal reached social media users, fans took to Twitter to express their outrage at the unnecessary backlash.
“How in God’s green earth did that ig post manage to offend some people?” wrote one user.
“Disgusting, no wonder why he’s gonna leave us in the summer,” another added.
Unfortunately, Paul Pogba had to delete this post via his Instagram because of fans giving him abuse.
Disgraceful https://t.co/6ew689a3XX
— UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) January 23, 2022
“Look, I’m neither a United [nor] Pogba fan, but still I struggle to understand why would he receive abuse for sharing something about his beliefs. Like wtf is wrong with people?” questioned another.
Others posted kind words of encouragement to the player: “@paulpogba the proper fans are with you and the proper fans support and back you.”
Man Utd Star @paulpogba sought Allah's forgiveness for himself and his fans in a dua written in English and posted on his official IG. Rather than saying Ameen, his #Islamophobic fans started hurling insults at #Pogba, and that, so sadly, made the French footballer to delete it. pic.twitter.com/BXMXm2FvqL
— Muslim News Nigeria (@muslimnews_NG) January 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/RiZzyUTD/status/1485316257226412034?t=PZRkPW_rbHx_MGZjHRqjRw&s=19
https://twitter.com/speeds_c/status/1485314282875244545?t=bfFI_nlZ59uRd0uHZW34jg&s=19
We stand with Paul Pogba, may Allah make it easier for you.