Man who racially abused Arsenal star Bukayo Saka online faces prison sentence

Law student and Arsenal supporter Suhel Ali, who made several racist remarks towards the Gunners’ star man Bukayo Saka on X (formerly Twitter), could face a prison sentence for his actions.

Ali, 20, uploaded an audio message on his personal X account, in which he called Saka a ‘’f***ing black piece of s**t’, ‘the s***test winger I’ve ever seen at my club’ and ‘a f***ing monkey’. He is also alleged to have used the n-word in reference to Saka.

His social media tirade came after Arsenal were beaten by a score of 1-0 against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on May 20, 2023. The result saw Manchester City, the Gunners’ chief title rivals, win the race to be crowned champions. Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal of the game as Mikel Arteta’s men failed to conjure up a response.

Ali was tracked down by police operatives who located him by using his IP address - they also received assistance from his mother, who provided them with her son’s email address.

His lawyer, Robert Moxon, said in court: “He used the N-word in that tweet but he’s using that not in a racial context but in an offensive context. He was just firing off some really stupid, offensive remarks about how a footballer played.”

In the trial, which will resume in just under four weeks on October 8, District Judge Briony Clarke said: “I’m not going to sentence you today - but I’m not ruling anything out.”

Saka, alongside the rest of his Arsenal teammates, is enjoying a fruitful start to the 2024/25 Premier League season. So far, the 42 cap England international has played in all three of the Gunners’ league games, scoring a single goal and notching up a trio of assists along the way.