Players, political leaders and footballing chiefs in Britain expressed disgust on Monday at racial abuse targeting England stars, including...
Players, 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 Twitter moved to remove abusive accounts and 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.”
England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter – many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.
This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 12, 2021
Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.
Three lads who were brilliant all summer had the courage to step up & take a pen when the stakes were high. They deserve support & backing not...
