The disturbing issue of racism has once again come under the spotlight even as England, at least most of it, wrapped its arms around its national soccer team after their history-making run ended in heartbreaking defeat in the Euro 2020 final.
The subject of the racist attacks was the young trio of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka — all of whom missed penalty kicks which led to England’s defeat against Italy on Sunday.
The online abuse prompted a police investigation and wide condemnation, including from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William, who is president of England’s Football Association.
“For some of them to be abused is unforgivable,” England manager Gareth Southgate told a media conference. “Some of it has come from abroad but some of it is from this country.”
England had earned praise for their stand against racism — the team had highlighted the issue of racism by taking a knee before all their matches — while a number of players have also campaigned on other social causes. The multi-racial make-up of the team had been hailed as reflecting a more diverse, modern Britain.
Prime Minister Johnson condemned the racist online abuse suffered by players, saying he hoped the abusers “crawled back under their rocks”.
“For those who have been directing racist abuse at some of the players, I say ‘Shame on you’,” Johnson said in a Downing Street press briefing on Monday.“And I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged.”
“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour,” said Prince William, who said he was “sickened”.
The Football Association said fans who exhibited such “disgusting behaviour” were not welcome. Uefa also called for the strongest possible punishments.
A mural of Rashford, who had campaigned for poor children to be given more support during the pandemic, was also covered in abuse. A Twitter spokesperson said they had removed more than 1,000 tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts.
Written with NYTNS and agency inputs
