A man arrested in Malaga for threatening Morata and his family after missing a penalty with Spain

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in Malaga for allegedly threatening to kill the captain of the Spanish national football team, Álvaro Morata , and his family on social media after the player missed a penalty shootout in the Nations League final against Portugal on June 8 in Germany.

The serious threats were made from the suspect's personal account on a popular social networking site and were directed not only at Morata, currently a striker for Galatasaray, but also at his children . They had a huge impact on the internet, the National Police reported, according to EFE.

The player's family publicly denounced the incident through the same social media platform used by the author of the threatening comments.

Just two days after the threats were posted online, a person went to the Provincial Police Station in Malaga to report that unknown individuals had "stolen" their personal social media account.

At the same time, officers assigned to the Cybercrime Section confirmed that the account the complainant was referring to was the same one from which the threats against the footballer had been made .

Continuing their investigation, investigators discovered inconsistencies in the complainant's account , who had apparently attempted to exploit the complaint to create an alibi to disassociate himself from the events.

Analysis of the suspect's phone

The National Police intercepted the young man's cell phone and, during its analysis, found evidence proving that this person was indeed the alleged perpetrator of the incident.

Police have warned in a statement that there is growing concern about online harassment and threats.

"These behaviors have become normalized in some areas, such as sports, encouraged by the anonymity provided by social media and the speed with which they spread," the police lamented in their statement.