British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the «appalling» racist abuse of England players on social media after their defeat in the Euro 2020 final.
Johnson said the team deserved to be lauded as «heroes» after losing to Italy and not being subjected to online hate, adding that those who sent abuse should be «ashamed of themselves».
The FA also issued a statement saying he was «terrified», while FA president Prince William said he had fallen ill from the abuse. The Metropolitan Police has pledged to investigate.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed the penalty kick last night when England went down on penalties.
Soon, the trio’s social media pages were filled with racist comments, prompting the Football Association to issue a statement condemning the «disgusting behaviour».
An FA spokesperson said: «The FA strongly condemns all forms of online discrimination and panic targeting certain England players on social media.
“We cannot be clear that anyone behind such disgusting behavior is unwelcome in following the team. We will do everything in our power to support the affected players while urging the most severe sanctions possible for anyone responsible.
“We will continue to do everything we can to eliminate out-of-game discrimination, but we appeal to the government to act quickly and pass the appropriate legislation so that this violation 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 could lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free of this kind of hateful abuse.”
The Metropolitan Police also condemned the «unacceptable» abuse, adding that it would investigate the «offensive and racist» social media posts.
The force said in a statement on Twitter: «We are aware of a number of offensive and racist comments on social media directed at football players following the #European Championship #2020 final.
This violation is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated and will be investigated.»
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The official Twitter account of the England men’s and women’s national teams offered support to the fallen players.
«We are disgusted that some members of our squad – who gave everything for the shirt this summer – were subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game,» she said in a statement.
«We stand with our players.»
Mr Johnson condemned the racist abuse of players.
«This English team deserves to be lauded as champions, not for racist abuse on social media. Those responsible for these appalling abuses should be ashamed of themselves,» he said.
I am tired of the racist abuse directed at England players after last night’s match.
It is completely unacceptable for players to put up with this abhorrent behavior.
It must stop now and all those involved must be held accountable. W
– The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (KensingtonRoyal) 12 July 2021
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called on social media companies to do more to hold those responsible for sending online abuse to account.
He wrote on Twitter: «There is absolutely no place for racism in football or anywhere else.
“Those responsible for the disgusting online abuse we saw must be held accountable – and social media companies must act immediately to remove and prevent this hate.”
Former England striker Alan Shearer condemned the «disgusting» abuse that targeted the three players.
He told BBC Breakfast: «What do people think when they go online and offend these players?
«What’s wrong with these people? It’s absolutely ridiculous. Absolutely disgusting.
«One has to volunteer for a penalty and I absolutely admire the men who were brave enough to stand up and receive a penalty for England. It’s a horrible situation to be in.»
«What’s wrong with some people? It’s so sad and funny!»
On # BBC breakfast Alan Shearer condemned the racist abuse suffered by a number of England players after the England match #EURO2020 Final defeat last night.https://t.co/an9fK7Vx56 pic.twitter.com/TsGOYiz161
BBC breakfast 12 July 2021
Police injured after confronting ‘explosive crowds’
Meanwhile, Met Police said 49 people had been arrested in London by police officers for the Euro 2020 final.
The force added that 19 officers were wounded «while confronting the explosive crowds.»
A security breach before the match saw a «small group» of people enter the stadium without tickets.
Security officials and hosts, as well as some fans, have dealt with some of the hackers.
Footage circulated on social media showed supporters fighting in gatherings inside the ground.
Scotland Yard wrote on Twitter: «The Euro 2020 final policing is coming to an end. Thank you to the tens of thousands of fans who are in good spirits and behaved responsibly.
«We arrested 49 people during the day for various crimes. We will have officers throughout the night,» he added.
«Frustrated, 19 of our officers were injured while facing the exploding crowd. This is totally unacceptable.»
After the match, riot police were seen breaking into the crowd outside Wembley Stadium as the fans had left. Bottles of beer were thrown to anti-Italy chants.
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