British PM Boris Johnson has condemned the “appalling” racist abuse on social media aimed at players of England after Italy has defeated them in the Euro 2020 final. The Metropolitan police have also opened an investigation into the abuse.
Boris tweeted his condemnation on Monday morning after the Football Association issued a statement shortly after the game finished describing “disgusting behavior” among some fans online and urging police to implement “the toughest punishments possible”.
Including the UK Prime Minister, Football Association, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, also condemned racist comments directed toward three black members of the English Men’s National Football Team following England’s loss to Italy.
Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho had their social media accounts flooded with racially abused trash talk after missing penalty kicks at the end of the 2020 UEFA European Championship on Sunday resulting in a loss of what would have been their first-ever European Championship and their first major tournament title since the 1966 World Cup.
Regard these abusive posts, Johnson wrote on Twitter:
“This England team deserves to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media. Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
“I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night’s match. It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behavior. It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable,” Prince William also posted to Twitter.
The FA statement 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 behavior 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.”
Quite a few high-profile Twitter users gave the players their support after the game, while Instagram has been flooded with positive comments in an effort to drown out the racist abuse.
The three players who received the abuse have not yet spoken about it publicly, but England manager Gareth Southgate also condemned the hate on Monday.
