A 21-year-old engineering student, Ibukun Quadri, avoided jail time after racially abusing England striker Callum Wilson on social media during England’s 2022 FIFA World Cup match against Iran.
Quadri, then 19, called Wilson a derogatory term for his decision to pass the ball to a white teammate. The incident occurred during the match on November 21, 2022, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar, where Wilson substituted England captain Harry Kane in the 76th minute, according to Daily Mail.
During England’s 2022 FIFA World Cup match against Iran, which saw goals from Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, and Marcus Rashford, Wilson assisted Jack Grealish’s goal. However, Warwick University student Quadri racially abused Wilson on social media for his play.
Quadri admitted to sending the offensive message and received a 12-month community order, 200 hours of unpaid work, and 10 days of rehabilitation activity as consequences. Sentencing Quadri, from Dartford, District Judge Louisa Cieciora said: “You demonstrated hostility based on the victim’s race and of course, it was in a public forum.
“I have to take into account the wider context – particularly that footballers have been taking the knee in all games to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to fight racism and all forms of discrimination, and the fact that the comment is likely to be seen by a wider audience, and the harm caused by racism is, of course, pervasive and should never be underestimated.”
Frances McCormack, the prosecutor at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, said that Quadri used the username @quadz19 on the X platform when he made the offensive post directed at Wilson.
The incident was reported to the football association, prompting police to launch an investigation into the matter. McCormack said: “He stated in an interview that he didn’t think the comments were offensive because he was a black male himself, so he did make partial admissions but not full admissions.
“He made the comment because in that particular match at that particular time, the previous four people who had scored a goal for England had been black, and he said that if Mr. Wilson had scored a goal there would have been an all-black scoring sheet.’
James Powell, defending Quadri, said: “This is an indication more of immaturity rather than wickedness.
“There’s been no offending before or since this one act of immaturity which may be the only act of immaturity he’s ever committed in his life.”
In addition to the community order, unpaid work, and rehabilitation activity, Quadri was instructed to pay a mandatory surcharge of £114 ($142) and £85 ($106) in prosecution costs.
