Racial abuse and hate against England football players shameful, says British PM Boris Johnson

By Asianet Newsable English | First Published Jul 12, 2021, 1:54 PM IST

Boris Johnson took to micro-blogging platform Twitter to say that the England team deserved to be hailed as heroes and not racially abused on social media.

(Above) England's coach Gareth Southgate speaks to England's midfielder Bukayo Saka after their loss in the UEFA EURO 2020 final football match between Italy and England at the Wembley Stadium in London. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has slammed the racist abuse directed at three coloured members of the English football team.

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After losing the Euro 2020 final against Italy, some football players have received racist abuse and other forms of hate online on social media.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the racist abuse and other forms of hate online on social media against some members of the England football team following their loss against Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

Johnson took to micro-blogging platform Twitter to say that the England team deserved to be hailed as heroes and not racially abused on social media.

Those behind this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves, he said.

London Metropolitan Police also said that they would be investigating the comments made online towards players Marcus Rashford, Jordan Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed their penalties during the shootout.

The match was a draw at 1-1 with extra time and then went to penalties, where Italy beat England 3-2.

The English team has also been highlighting racism by taking the knee before their matches. But their critics have booed the action, calling it an unwanted politicisation of sports and political bias sympathetic to the far-left.

The social media accounts of the players did show a large amount of support and gratitude from fans during and after the tournament.

The England team took to Twitter to say that it is disgusted that some members of the squad "who have given everything for the shirt this summer" have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight's game.

And the English Football Association said that the "disgusting behaviour" from fans was not welcome.

The FA, in a statement, said that it will do everything possible to support the players affected. It also called for the toughest punishments possible for those responsible.

The Metropolitan Police said on Twitter that it will not tolerate hate and offensive remarks from anonymous accounts, and will investigate the posts.

The problem of online abuse for all football players had led to the British football authorities boycotting social media platforms briefly in order to bring attention to the problem, and several sporting bodies followed.

Social media companies and technology firms have been long accused of not doing enough to deal with the problem of dealing with hatred, especially anonymous hatred and abuse online.

In May, the British government announced plans for a new law that could fine social media firms and companies 10 per cent of turnover or roughly about 18 million pounds if they did not deal with and terminate online abuse and hate of all kinds.

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