Manchester City and England winger Raheem Sterling has spoken out against newspapers for the manner in which they 'fuel racism' in football, after he himself was subject to abuse during his side's away clash with Chelsea.
Upon crossing the touchline to retrieve a ball behind one of the goals at Stamford Bridge, Sterling was captured being subject to racist insults from a pocket of Chelsea supporters in the stands.
Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police are said to be investigating the allegations, but it is expected that the fans in question will be punished, given that the entire incident was caught on camera by various television networks broadcasting the match.
On his personal instagram page, Sterling wrote that he 'had to laugh' upon hearing the racist remarks hurled towards him, as he 'expects no better'.
Sterling then pointed to the example of contrasting newspaper headlines about two of his City teammates, Phil Foden and Tosin Adarabioyo.
The headlines in question centre around the news that both players recently spent large sums of money on new homes for their families, but the terminology used in each on is vastly different.
An article referring to Phil Foden, an 18 year old white British male, read: 'Manchester City starlet Phil Foden buys new £2m home for his mum', and the piece itself praises the player for having 'set up a future' for himself.
In contrast, the article written about 21 year old Adarabioyo, a black British male, read: 'Young Manchester City footballer, splashes out on a mansion for £2.25m despite having never started a Premier League match.'
On this alleged blatant racism, Sterling said: "You have two young players starting out their careers - both play for the same team, both have done the right thing, which is buy a new house for their mothers who have put in a lot of time and love into helping them get where they are."
He continued: "But look at how the newspapers get their message across for the young black player and then for the young white player. I think this is unacceptable, both innocent, have not done a thing wrong but just by the way it has been worded, this young black kid is looked at in a bad light, which helps fuel racism and aggressive behaviour."
Sterling has frequently found himself at the centre of negative media attention since he burst into the spotlight with Liverpool, and even more so now he plays for Premier League champions Manchester City.
Most recently, the forward was criticised for having as rifle tattooed on his leg, which he explained has a deeper personal meaning, as it is a tribute to his late father who was a victim of gun violence in Jamaica.
He has also been mocked for shopping in Primark in spite of his high wages, but has also been targeted for buying his mother a house.
Sterling has since said that he no longer worries about criticism of his lifestyle.