Prime Minister condemns racist abuse of three young lions
Boris Johnson has condemned the racist abuse of England players on social media following the European Championship final defeat to Italy last night, saying those responsible should be ashamed of themselves.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all failed from the spot and swiftly their social media pages were flooded with racist abuse.
The Football Association were forced to release a statement last night condemning the abuse and called it “disgusting behaviour”.
A spokesperson 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.”
They went on to add that “social media companies need to step up and take accountability.”
The abuse of young, black players on social media is not a new phenomenon. Rashford himself has spoken about the abuse he received during the regular season.
The Metropolitan Police said that they were “aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments” and that they will be “investigated”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on social media companies to do more to prevent such abuse and hold those responsible accountable.
He wrote on Twitter: “There is absolutely no place for racism in football or anywhere else.
“Those responsible for the disgusting online abuse we have seen must be held accountable – and social media companies need to act immediately to remove and prevent this hate.”
The official England Twitter account offered its support to the abused players.
It said in a statement: “We’re disgusted that some of our squad – who have given everything for the shirt this summer – have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game.
“We stand with our players.”