Chelsea welcome the arrest of a 21-year-old man after hateful messages posted on social media 

Chelsea have welcomed the arrest of a young man in relation to hate crime messages posted on social media.

The Metropolitan Police said  today they had  arrested a 21-year-old following hateful messages posted over a number of months.

The arrest was made in Retford by the Nottinghamshire force and the Met.

In a tweet, the police said:  ‘This morning, @MPSFootballUnit officers assisted by @NottPolFootball attended an address in Retford and arrested a 21 year old male under the Malicious Communications Act. 

‘This was in response to an investigation into a number of hate crime messages that were posted in 2020  on social media over a number of months.

‘These offences were brought to the attention of police by @ChelseaFC who have worked with the MPS to identify the suspect. The male was interviewed at a police station and released under investigation.’

Sportsmail understands the arrest is not related to the abuse of the club’s players or recent incidents in which  Antonio Rudiger and Reece James have been targeted.

In response, Chelsea tweeted: ‘We welcome today’s arrest which shows that hateful messages shared on social media do have consequences.

‘We continue to work closely with the police to support their investigations on this important issue.’   

More to follow.