A British Boxer Received A Wave Of Islamophobic Abuse For Sharing This Photo

    Anthony Joshua shared a photo of himself at a mosque while he was on holiday in Dubai with friends. BuzzFeed News understands that he was experiencing the country's culture and is not a practising Muslim.

    Anthony Joshua, a British Olympic champion and professional heavyweight boxer, has a very large fanbase, with more than 800,000 followers on Twitter and almost 2 million followers on Instagram.

    However, on Tuesday morning he received a wave of racist and Islamophobic abuse after sharing a photo of himself at a mosque in Dubai with friends.

    Besides luck, hard work & talent.. Prayer is a solid foundation. It was nice to join my brother as he led through a… https://t.co/UXBJGXMHnZ

    One Twitter user was quick to share their "shock" and "disappointment" of his support for such a vile religion". They also said they had unfollowed him on Twitter and that they would no longer support him because his "religion is full of hate, pedos and violence".

    What the fuck are you doing lad, won't be supporting you no more. https://t.co/0Gi2lba1qM

    Far-right activist Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, called Joshua a "sell out" and encouraged fans to unfollow the boxer.

    Joshua is due to fight Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in April in a showdown that has broken box office records with more than 80,000 tickets sold, Sky News reported. However, since sharing the photo, some fans have called for Klitschko to win.

    BuzzFeed News understands that Joshua is currently on holiday in Dubai and is experiencing the country's culture. One of his friends, a practising Muslim, went on holiday with him.

    Although Joshua and his PR team declined to comment regarding the abuse and hate directed towards him, BuzzFeed News also understands that the boxer is not a member of any particular religion, nor does he practise any.

    It might explain why some Muslims on Twitter were confused about the photo.

    Anthony ur meant to look down at the floor not up with ya sunglasses on in the mosque. https://t.co/v6yru75itu

    Looool why is man wearing sunglasses and why is man wearing a cap kmt this was just a photoshoot https://t.co/zeHkfDe4OA