England FA condems racist attacks online after Euro final loss
England’s Football Association (FA) has said it wants the “toughest punishments possible” for people they identify as having racially abused members of the national side.
Key points:
- Members of England’s national team have been racially abused online following their loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final
- The FA says it will not tolerate the abuse of any players
- Online abuse tainted the last Premier League season, with clubs boycotting social media for four-days
In a statement released in the early hours on Monday (local time), the FA condemned the online racist abuse of players following the team’s penalty shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.
The sides drew 1-1 after extra time and Italy won the shootout 3-2, with England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who are all black, missing spot-kicks.
“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,” the statement said.
“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour 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.”
Last season’s Premier League was soured by multiple incidents of online racial abuse of black players.
In April, the FA along with clubs from the Premier League, English Football Leagues, Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship boycotted social media for four days in response to the continued abuse of players.
The governing bodies of English football sent an open letter in February to Facebook and Twitter calling for the social media platforms to block and take down offensive posts.
Reuters/ABC