The FA Condemns Racist Abuse Of Players Following Uefa Euro 2020 Final
The FA has condemned racist abuse aimed at a number of England footballers after the nation’s penalty shootout defeat in the EURO 2020 final.
The Wembley final of the competition followed chaotic scenes in and around the ground, as well as in central London throughout the day.
Jadon Sancho (above), Bukayo Saka, and Marcus Rashford were among players racially abused online in the wake of the game, in which they missed penalties in the shootout. A mural of Rashford – which was commissioned to commemorate the Manchester United and England player’s campaigning work on child poverty – was also reportedly vandalised in Manchester.
In a statement released after the game in the early hours of Monday morning, The FA said: “The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media.
“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team.
“We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences.
“Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.”
At a press conference later on Monday morning, England manager Gareth Southgate reacted when asked about the abuse.
He said: “The players have had such a great togetherness and spirit and brought our country together.
“For some of them to be abused is unforgivable. Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country. We have been a beacon of light to bring people together and the national team stands for everybody.
“We felt the energy and positivity from the fans and I’m incredibly proud of that.”
We could not be any prouder of this @England team.
To set yet more racist abuse aimed at some of the England players on social media is utterly appalling and completely unacceptable.
Our full statement below pic.twitter.com/ET2EJrF9Mu
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) July 12, 2021
The abuse was condemned by politicians, public figures, and the wider sport industry, including from anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, whose CEO, Tony Burnett, also called on social media companies and the goverment to do more to tackle the issue (above).
The news follows a pattern of online abuse received by sportspeople and others in public life, despite a number of campaigns attempting to stop the trend. Earlier this year, broadcasters Sky Sports and BBC Sport teamed up to launch the Hate Won’t Win campaign, which sees the pair aim to make their social media channels ‘a safer place for everyone’.
BT, meanwhile, launched a separate campaign, Hope United, which enlisted famous faces in an attempt to highlight the issue.
The latest wave of abuse follows a sport-wide boycott of social media across a bank holiday weekend in late April and early May.
On Twitter, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media. Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
Image: Shutterstock
