Aberdeen have condemned racist abuse aimed at captain Anthony Stewart on social media – promising a “stringent” investigation to identify the culprit.
The Dons captain was targeted in the wake of Saturday’s Premiership defeat to St Mirren, with the 30-year-old posting a screengrab of the message to his Instagram page on Boxing Day.
On Tuesday evening, the Dons released a statement saying they would “not tolerate” such behaviour.
They said: “We strongly condemn all forms of discrimination and are shocked at the racist abuse aimed at our captain, Anthony Stewart.
“Anthony has our full support and as a club we are currently undertaking a stringent internal investigation to try to identify the person responsible.
“Aberdeen FC stands free from all forms of discrimination, and we will simply not tolerate this type of abuse.”
The club strongly condemn all forms of discrimination and are shocked at the racist abuse aimed at our captain, Anthony Stewart.
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) December 27, 2022
Centre-half Stewart gave away a penalty and was sent off for a foul on Jonah Ayunga with the Dons leading 1-0 in Paisley on Christmas Eve.
Mark O’Hara would go on to convert the equalising spot-kick for the Buddies, and the home side would go on to beat the Reds 3-1, compounding the blow of defeats to Celtic and Rangers within the previous seven days.
In his post revealing the offensive message he received following the loss to St Mirren, Stewart wrote: “There is many highs and lows in this beautiful game and I take full responsibility for my mistake, which cost us three points.
“But I will not take racist abuse lightly.”
Englishman Stewart – who is suspended for Wednesday night’s league visit to Kilmarnock – was signed from Wycombe Wanderers in the summer and immediately installed as Aberdeen skipper by boss Jim Goodwin.