Tottenham’s Mathys Tel Gets Racially Abused After Missing Penalty – Because Apparently That’s Still a Thing in 2025

Teammates Rally Around Tel

Richarlison, never one to stay quiet when it matters, also stepped up to defend his teammate. The Brazilian forward took to social media with a message that perfectly captured the frustration many feel about this recurring issue.

“Winning or losing, getting it wrong or right, it’s all part of the game. Racism is not!” Richarlison wrote. “Tel is still a young lad, great player at the beginning of his journey… and doesn’t deserve this, just like anyone else.”

He continued: “This type of behaviour has no place anywhere anymore. I hope these people (if I can even call them that) are severely punished!! It’s so easy to hide behind a social media profile spreading hate and this kind of speech. Something has to change! We’re with you, Tel!”

The Bigger Picture: Why This Keeps Happening

Here’s the thing that’s particularly maddening about this situation – Tel actually showed courage by stepping up to take that penalty. In a high-pressure situation, with the game on the line, he volunteered to take responsibility. That takes guts. But instead of recognizing that bravery, some fans decided to attack him based on the color of his skin.

This isn’t just a Tottenham problem, or even just a football problem. It’s a societal issue that keeps rearing its ugly head whenever emotions run high in sports. Every major tournament, every important match, we see the same pattern: player makes mistake, racists crawl out of the woodwork.

The Role of Social Media Platforms

The anonymity that social media provides has created a breeding ground for this kind of behavior. People feel emboldened to say things online they would never dare say face-to-face. The platforms themselves have been slow to act, often requiring clubs and organizations to do the heavy lifting in identifying and reporting abuse.

While some progress has been made – with platforms introducing better reporting systems and verification processes – it’s clearly not enough. When a young player can’t miss a penalty without facing racial abuse, the system is broken.

Tel’s Journey and What This Means

For Tel, this incident comes at a crucial time in his career. The young forward was highly regarded at Bayern Munich and was seen as a promising acquisition for Tottenham. He’s representing France at youth levels and has his whole career ahead of him.

But experiences like this can have lasting impacts on young players. The psychological toll of facing racial abuse from people who are supposed to be supporting your team can be devastating. It’s not just about missing a penalty anymore – it’s about whether you even want to put yourself in that position again.

Moving Forward: What Needs to Change

The football community’s response to this incident has been largely positive, with widespread condemnation of the abuse. But condemnation isn’t enough anymore. We need actual consequences.

Social media platforms need to do more than just remove offensive content after it’s reported. They need proactive systems to prevent it from appearing in the first place. They need to make it easier to identify anonymous accounts spreading hate.

Clubs need to continue taking strong stances, like Tottenham has done here. But they also need to follow through on their promises to work with authorities. Too often, these statements are made and then quietly forgotten.

Law enforcement needs to treat online racial abuse with the same seriousness as offline incidents. The fact that it happens through a screen doesn’t make it less harmful.

The Human Cost

At the end of the day, this isn’t just about football statistics or social media policies. It’s about Mathys Tel, a 22-year-old human being who stepped up in a big moment, fell short, and then had to deal with people attacking his very identity because of it.

Tel will likely recover from this and go on to have a successful career. He’s got talent, he’s got the support of his club and teammates, and he’s shown he has the courage to take responsibility in high-pressure situations. But he shouldn’t have to deal with racist abuse as part of that journey.

Final Thoughts

In 2025, we’re still dealing with the same problems that have plagued football for decades. Players are still being judged not just on their performance, but on their race. Fans are still using the anonymity of the internet to spread hate. And we’re still having the same conversations about how to fix it.

Maybe it’s time to stop just talking about change and start demanding it. From the platforms that host this content, from the authorities that should be prosecuting it, and from ourselves as a community that claims to love the beautiful game.

Mathys Tel deserves better. Every player who faces this kind of abuse deserves better. And frankly, football as a sport deserves better than having these conversations every few months when the next incident occurs.