Twitter has released a statement explaining work they claim is being done to address incidents of online racism, which several Watford players were targeted with last season.

Following their FA Cup semi-final victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, several Hornets players, including captain Troy Deeney, defender Adrian Mariappa and Christian Kabasele complained of receiving racist abuse online.

Following further instances this season, Twitter has claimed it is taking action to try and stamp out racist abuse on its website and released a statement explaining how they are going about it.

It reads: "We are sharing a brief update on the work we are doing to address incidences of abusive and racist behaviour towards UK footballers on the service in recent weeks.

In the past two weeks, we have taken action on more than 700 examples of abuse and hateful conduct related to UK football. This vile content has no place on our service. We will continue to take swift action on the minority that try to undermine the conversation for the majority.

In that same time, we have met with the @PFA, @kickitout and directly affected football clubs, and agreed a number of proactive measures to tackle this issue collectively.

Working with the @PFA, we will participate in their player training programme and will be joining a series of educational sessions with its membership to support the PFA’s ambition to tackle the issue.

Working with @kickitout, we will continue our working relationship with UK policing to further brief them and provide training on our policies, procedures and dedicated 24/7 reporting channels for law enforcement.

To be clear; this behaviour does not reflect the vast majority of fans who use Twitter to participate in vibrant conversations around football in the UK. We have spent years forging strong partnerships with clubs, organisations and supporters and deeply value the relationships.

We want to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour — both online and offline — and will continue engaging with partners and clubs, protecting the conversation from abuse, and taking rapid action on accounts that break our rules."

However, just hours later, the Professional Footballers' association has released their own statement saying that social networks are not currently doing enough to prevent racism from happening on their platforms.

They said: "Our members have high profile accounts and are often a target for abuse. We are calling for extended protection for our members on social networks and we believe the proposals below will be important and applicable for all users.

We are calling for social networks to commit to:

The Swift Removal of Hateful Posts

 We want the social media networks to provide targeted monitoring of player accounts, club accounts, key fixtures and tournaments to address any racist abuse promptly. We want sufficient resources dedicated to identifying and removing offending posts without delay.

Changes in Policy or Thresholds

 Temporarily suspending the accounts of users engaging in racist and discriminatory abuse is not enough. We believe that account-holders of hateful posts should be permanently deleted from the platform. Equally, users should not have to engage in ‘repeated’ instances of racist abuse to contravene policies. Once is too much – zero tolerance is the only responsible action.

Offline Consequences for Online Action

Social media must have better links with the police and football authorities on this issue.

Currently, there is a lack of responsibility for ensuring offline consequences. If users can be identified, they should be reported to the police and the relevant football bodies – including clubs and The FA.

Enhanced Visibility of Outcomes Reporting

 In addition, we would like to see greater transparency available to users who have reported abuse; not just that a report has resulted in a violation, but also an update on the outcome – i.e. the offending account has been permanently suspended.

Collaborative Thinking and Transparency

All football stakeholders and social media networks need to continue work together to address all forms of discrimination online and within football. Players need transparency and assurance that the issue is being treated as a matter of urgency."