Irish football supporter at centre of Sunderland star Twitter race row

Fraizer Campbell has become the victim of vile racial abuse from an Irish fan on Twitter – who launched his diatribe after the striker cheered for Estonia last Friday night.

After Campbell, who is actually eligible to play for Ireland, jokingly tweeted: “Come on Estonia! You can do it!”, he received a message from the since-deleted account TheReid1, who described the Sunderland star as a “big f****** n*****”.

A shocked Campbell retweeted the abuse alongside the message “Wow just seen this tweet! Disgraceful”, together with a link to a picture of the Show Racism the Red Card organisation.

Before his account was deleted, TheReid1’s account included a bio that referred to the user a Bohs and Spurs fan from Dublin. He also claims: "My tweets are my own views. Don’t like it then f**k off."

A spokesman from the Northumbria Police said: "Police are aware of this matter and inquiries are being made.”

Sunderland have also added that they have a “zero-tolerance approach to any form of abuse” and are treating the matter with the utmost of seriousness.