Euro 2020 Euro 2020: UK PM Johnson condemns racist abuse of England football players
London/UNI: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday condemned the racist abuse directed at three Black England players after team's narrow defeat against Italy in the final of Euro 2020.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed spot-kicks in a penalty shootout against Italy following a 1-1 draw on Sunday and all three players immediately started receiving racist abuse on social media.
"This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media," Johnson said on Twitter.
"Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves," he added.
England’s Football Association issued a statement saying it was 'appalled' by the 'disgusting behavior.'
This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 12, 2021
Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.
European football's governing body UEFA also condemned the "disgusting racist abuse", adding: "We stand by the players and the FA's call for the strongest possible punishments."
London police also condemned the 'unacceptable' abuse, adding it will be investigating the 'offensive and racist' social media posts.
Notably, the England team has been highlighting the issue of racism throughout the tournament, taking the knee before all their matches. However, some fans have booed the gesture.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
