The FA have responded swiftly to racist abuse
Last night’s defeat at the hands of Italy has undoubtedly put a sombre cloud over the heads of many England fans. Unfortunately, the historic game, which saw the result come down to penalties, did not fall in our favour after some close misses from a number of the Three Lions. Almost immediately after the game, people took to Twitter to share their concerns over how Black players and fans would be treated because of the loss.
Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Bukayo Saka all received racist messages and comments underneath their recent social media posts. Despite thousands rallying around the stars, such rhetoric is never missed.
The FA has responded to the hate with a statement that condemns the abuse, here’s what they had to say:
“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.
“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.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore the government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse 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 can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.”
The Metropolitan Police have also responded by saying:
https://twitter.com/MetPoliceEvents/status/1414380936016318464
“We are aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the EURO 2020 final.”
“This abuse is totally unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated,” they said via Twitter.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also responded to the hate.
Johnson previously commented on taking the knee, which served as a direct response to an industry still rampant with racial abuse.
On taking the knee, a spokesperson said:
“The PM has spoken on this matter before.
“On taking the knee specifically the PM is more focused on actions rather than gestures.
“We’ve taken action on with things like the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities and that’s what he’s focused on delivering.”
Johnson has since asked fans to “cheer not boo”, and tweeted his condemnation of the racist abuse following England’s defeat.
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.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 12, 2021
https://twitter.com/LukwesaBurak/status/1414482596482985985
