Police are investigating an allegation of racist abuse on twitter towards Hibs’ midfielder Marvin Bartley following Wednesday’s Edinburgh Derby which ended in a 3-1 victory for the Easter Road side.
Bartley was named man of the match in the first game at Tynecastle and also produced a sterling performance in the replay.
After the game a Twitter user @StevenLeeHMFC tweeted “a hope that big black jigaboo Marvin Bartley dies. F****** spearchhucker”.
This tweet has now been deleted.
Bartley however responded with “Still alive and kicking pal, hope you’ve recovered from your stuffing last night #WeRunThisCity.”
He then produced another comeback which has gained considerable approval from his followers: “I only took offence at first when I thought it read ‘big black Jambo’ but it never so I’ll get on with my day.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Police in Edinburgh are investigating a report of hate crime committed via social media during the Hibernian v Hearts football match at Easter Road on Wednesday 22nd February.
“Inquiries in to the investigation are ongoing.”
