A student jailed for posting racist comments on Twitter about Fabrice Muamba after the footballer collapsed during a match will appeal Friday against his prison term.

Liam Stacey, 21, from Pontypridd, Wales, was sentenced to 56 days behind bars on Tuesday after he admitted inciting racial hatred.

The Swansea University biology undergraduate sparked outrage when he posted a tweet on the microblogging site, mocking the Bolton Wanderers player who collapsed with a cardiac arrest during the FA Cup quarter-final tie with Tottenham Hotspur on March 17.

When other tweeters criticised Stacey's comment, which came amid a global outpouring of sympathy for the footballer, the student responded with a string of racially offensive posts.

Sentencing the student at Swansea Magistrates' Court, district judge John Charles said his remarks were "vile and abhorrent".

He said there was "no alternative" to an immediate prison sentence, as when Muamba collapsed "it was not the football world who was praying for him... everybody was praying for his life".

Stacey, who broke down in tears as he was taken away in handcuffs, had told police he was drunk when he wrote the tirade.

He will appeal against the sentence before a high court judge at Swansea Crown Court, south Wales.

Muamba, whom doctors said was effectively dead for 78 minutes as they administered artificial resuscitation, remains in intensive care in a serious but stable condition.

The 23-year-old midfielder was making "encouraging" progress and had even managed to sit out of bed and watch television, doctors at the London Chest Hospital said in a statement Monday.