Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has quit Twitter after several abusive messages were sent to him on the social network.
However the club moved to deny he had terminated his account on the basis of receiving any communications.
'Not true Mikel quit Twitter due to messages received. He'd wanted to leave for a while & deleted his acct today without looking at it,' Chelsea wrote on their official club Twitter account.
Gone: John Obi Mikel has quit Twitter
The Nigerian had been bombarded with vulgar messages after making a mistake which contributed to Chelsea's downfall against Juventus in the Champions League.
His side were leading 2-1 when a sloppy pass returned the ball to the Italians, who went on to score through Fabio Quagliarella and salvage a point.
Mikel is a player who has long split Chelsea fans' opinion, with many lauding him for his defensive graft while others bemoan his lack of creativity.
On this occasion the abuse went far beyond general football complaints and Chelsea took to Twitter again to say that the police were now involved.
'Abuse on social networks is abhorrent. Racist tweets towards Mikel are totally unacceptable. Police informed. #CFC supports strongest action,' they said.
Slip up: Mikel gave the ball away for Juventus' second goal
A disappointed Mikel had apologised for his mistake after the match.
'If I want to make up an excuse, I can,' he said. 'But, for me, I gave the ball away. I put my hands up, we move on.
'I'm sorry about the mistake, but there are no excuses.'
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