James racist troll to be arrested in Middle East just weeks ahead of World Cup

The person who fired alleged racist abuse at Reece James has been tracked down in the Middle East, three weeks before the World Cup starts in Qatar.

Chelsea defender James gave statements to Instagram, police and officials abroad after the England international was subject to racist abuse from a mysterious account.

An arrest is imminent as the racist troll has been found, according to the Sun, months after the abuse first started. It all began back in February, where James gave statements to Instagram, the Metropolitan Police and officials abroad following the torrid abuse - and now the culprit is finally on the verge of being caught.

James has opened up on the racist comments and admitted that the amount of abuse he manages to get is hard to control, given the number of fake accounts there are. The 22-year-old also added that he never usually opens up his messages but decided to read this one in particular, which turned out to be sinister.

He told The Sun : "I get (racist) messages here and there, but I've never really had it face to face. It's always the way (that trolls hide behind the keyboard); whenever I see it I report it. It's one of those things that is hard to control. Most of the time they are fake accounts."

James continued: "It's tough, when you have to take so much time on interviews and statements, and then it doesn't lead to anything. I had this one last season, m emojis and stuff. Before I didn't really open my messages, but one day I managed to see it, and reported it."

The first sign of racist abuse from this account was when James posted a photo of him training and a man questioned the colour of his skin. He followed this up with several m emojis and vomiting faces. James reported the abuse to Instagram and alerted support staff at Chelsea.

The club acted quickly to the abuse and former owner Roman Abramovich wrote to every player telling them he was "appalled" at the abuse suffered by their talented right-back. The Russian pledged to put some money forward in an attempt to stop and minimise the racist abuse, especially online.

The Met Police have been busy tracking down the culprit, while they have also been working with other companies in the Middle East. There has been conversations between the two parties, which has involved in a suspect being found with an arrest set to be made in due course.

A source told The Sun: "There's been a lot of conversation between police from both regions — everyone has been taking this case seriously. It's vital players feel supported and listened to, and know that all efforts are being made to clamp down on racism within the game.

"Of course, there are fears that this account — and others like it — are linked to a racist group in Qatar, a country which has been found to have a poor track record for racist abuse against non-nationals. We've already seen England players being horrifically racially abused after the Euro 2020 final — the last thing anyone needs is a repeat."

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