Student who racially abused England striker Callum Wilson spared jail
An engineering student who racially abused England striker Callum Wilson on social media because he passed the ball to a white teammate has dodged jail.
Ibukun Quadri, 21, called Wilson a ‘****’ during England’s 2022 FIFA World Cup opener with Iran on 21 November 2022.
Quadri was 19 when he sent the message to Wilson, who replaced England captain Harry Kane in the 76th minute at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.
England had scored through Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, before Wilson pulled the ball back for Jack Grealish to finish.
But the Warwick University student said: ‘Wilson you are a **** for that.’
He admitted sending a communication conveying an offensive message and was handed a 12 month community order, 200 hours of unpaid work, and 10 days of rehabilitation activity.
Ibukun Quadri at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he was sentenced for sending an abusive message to Callum Wilson during an England game
England won the game against Iran 6-2 to Qatar during the 2022 World Cup
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.’
Prosecutor Frances McCormack told Westminster Magistrates’ Court Quadri used the the name @quadz19 on X when he made the post.
This was reported to the football association and the police began investigating it.
Mr 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.’
Callum Wilson pictured celebrating a goal for his Premier League side Newcastle United
Quadri said he did not believe the term ‘****’ was offensive because he is black
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.
Quadri, was also ordered to pay a mandatory surcharge of £114 as well as £85 in prosecution costs.
