Following England’s defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020’s final match on Sunday, three young players of the English team have faced racial abuse online.
Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho have been subjected to racial slurs after missing penalties at Wembley Stadium.
Bukayo Saka, 19, has been targeted with hateful messages after Gianluigi Donnarumma saved his effort in the 3-2 loss.
Immediately after the game, the young Arsenal star received offensive comments such as “go back to Nigeria” and “get out of my country.”
But it was not the first time that black players have faced racial slurs on social media after a football match.
Rashford, known for his campaigns to combat child food poverty during the pandemic, has received racist messages over the past year.
After the Euro 2020 final, a mural honoring him in Manchester was vandalized.
In response, the 23-year-old opened up in a letter posted on Twitter and thanked people for their kind messages.
Response from the football community.
Rashford’s team Manchester United shared pictures of his mural after the community covered the graffiti with messages of love and support.
It said: “We’re all behind you, Marcus.”
Also, the team’s coach, Gareth Southgate, described online racial abuse as “unforgivable.”
At a virtual press conference on Monday, he said: “Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country.”
Meanwhile, the Football Association called on social media companies to step up and take responsibility.
The FA said tech giants should take steps to ban abusers from their platforms.
Response from social media companies.
In a statement issued Monday, Instagram said that no one should be subjected to racist abuse anywhere, “and we don’t want it on Instagram.”
The firm said it had quickly removed comments and accounts that directed abuses against footballers. Besides, it encouraged users to use its tools to avoid abuse.
Twitter responded similarly shortly after.
It deleted 1,000 posts and blocked accounts that shared racist messages and hateful content in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the London Metropolitan Police said it had launched an investigation into the “unacceptable” comments on both platforms.
National and International Support.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned racism against gamers.
“This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media. Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves,” he added.
Prince William wrote yesterday that he was sickened by the racist abuse that England players faced after Sunday’s match.
Furthermore, FC Barcelona’s account shared a post on Facebook saying: “Losing a penalty shootout is part of football, and a part of life. Racism is not.”
