Gareth Southgate: Racial abuse of Marcus Rashford and Co unforgivable

A fan is treated after being hit by a bottle while police officers monitor England supporters at Trafalgar Square during a live screening of the Euro final in London on Sunday. Pic/AFP

Political leaders and footballing chiefs in Britain expressed disgust on Monday at racial abuse targeting England stars, including three black players who missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.

But as Facebook vowed anew to look into abuse on its Instagram platform, Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself came under stinging criticism for earlier refusing to condemn fans who had booed English players' campaign against racism.

England manager Gareth Southgate said the online invective was "unforgivable". "Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country," he told reporters. "We have been a beacon of light to bring people together and the national team stands for everybody."

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, the three players who missed penalties, were the victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter.

Also Read: Euro Cup: FA condemns racist abuse of players after England's defeat to Italy

PM Boris under fire

While some people identifying as England fans used racial slurs in blaming the trio for the defeat, other offensive messages were accompanied with "forza italia" hashtags. "This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media," Johnson wrote on Twitter. "Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves."

Former Manchester United player Gary Neville accused the prime minister of having "promoted" racism, noting one notorious past comment by Johnson likening Muslim women who wear the veil to "letter-boxes".

Former Conservative party chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi urged the government: "It's time to stop the culture wars that are feeding division. Dog whistles win votes but destroy nations."

The Downing Street spokesman also noted that new UK legislation coming up will mandate tougher action by social media companies. Facebook said it had "quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse" at the footballers.

Ticketless fans probed

London's police force said it was aware of "a number of offensive and racist social media comments", promising an investigation. The Metropolitan Police also said it was probing scenes of mayhem after some ticketless fans forced their way into Wembley Stadium. UEFA said it "strongly condemns the disgusting racist abuse".

Also Read: Italy's Leonardo Bonucci becomes oldest scorer in Euro finals

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