TORRENTS of abuse aimed at athletes on social media expose the myth that sport is successfully tackling racism, North-East academics argues.

FIFA has claimed that racism in football is in decline, while Prime Minister David Cameron recently stated the problem could be ‘easily crushed’ if people worked together.

But a string of cases, such as the racist Twitter abuse received by Liverpool and Italy striker Mario Balotelli this week after he tweeted "Man Utd .... LOL" following their 5-3 loss to Leicester, show that racism remains endemic in sport and wider society.

The new book, Sport, Racism and Social Media, argues sporting and other authorities have been complacent and slow to respond to the emergence of social media as platforms for racism.

The book, by Sunderland University academics Neil Farrington, Lee Hall, Dr Daniel Kilvington, Dr John Price as well as Dr Amir Saeed analyses racist abuse of athletes across a range of sports.

It includes interviews with former Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chairman Clarke Carlisle, BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew and deputy chief executive of the PFA Bobby Barnes.

Dr Kilvington, associate lecturer in media studies, said: “Some of the case studies are shocking. Joel Ward, an ice hockey player, was sent a barrage of racist tweets by opposition fans after simply scoring a goal.

“We argue that the language used would not have been shouted from the stands because this would be considered socially unacceptable. Social media, however, allows users a covert platform to say what’s really on their mind.”

The book also discusses the ‘banter’ defence for racism, as employed during the recent racism scandal engulfing former Cardiff City manager Malky McKay.

Dr Kilvington added: “There is a common belief that we have entered a ‘post-race’ era and that race no longer matters. Racist posts therefore reflect a joke or a ‘bit of banter’ rather than being seen as what they really are, racist posts.”

In recent times Joshua Cryer was given a two-year community order after sending a series of racist tweets to football pundit Stan Collymore and Liam Stacey was sent to prison after abusing footballer Fabrice Muamba.

The book argues that Twitter, and other social media, need to make more pro-active attempts at responding to racism and police forces need to take a more coherent approach across the UK.

Dr John Price, senior lecturer in journalism, said: “Racism has found a new outlet in social media and this now needs to be tackled in a genuine and determined way.”