Police investigate racist abuse of three England players

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By FRANK GRIFFITHS and PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — British police opened investigations Monday into the racist abuse of three Black players who missed penalties in England’s shootout loss to Italy in the European Championship final.

The Metropolitan Police condemned the “unacceptable” abuse of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, and said they will be investigating the “offensive and racist” social media posts published soon after Italy won Sunday’s shootout 3-2 after the match ended 1-1.

The English Football Association said it was “appalled” by the “disgusting behavior,” adding that social media companies should take action to make their platforms free from this “abhorrent” abuse.

“We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible,” the FA said. “We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences.”



Ed Wellard, from Withington, tapes bin liners across offensive wording on the mural of Manchester United striker and England player Marcus Rashford on the wall of the Coffee House Cafe on Copson Street, which appeared vandalised the morning after the England soccer team lost the Euro 2021 final against Italy, in Withington, Manchester, England, Monday, July 12, 2021. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the racist abuse directed at three Black England players who missed their penalties in the team’s shootout loss to Italy in the final of the European Championship on Sunday. Johnson tweeted that “those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.” Marcus Rashford’s penalty hit the post and spots kicks from Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were saved by Italy's goalkeeper. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/euro-2020-sports-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-europe-8ebb7baf1ae56f32e96b56e64302a4d7

[riversedge]

1. Lots of tweets crap on Boris Johnson for not supporting the team..........

@mrjamesob
·
5h
Our players mounted the most powerful silent protest against racism we’ve ever seen and you refused to support them. The proven bully you made Home Secretary publicly criticised the team & then defended the racists who booed them.
Give your head a wobble.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[riversedge]

2. That team, those young men, have done more in a matter of weeks for my sense of belonging and pride

That team, those young men, have done more in a matter of weeks for my sense of belonging and pride than this government has done in 10 years.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Grimelle]

3. This is why they keep kneeling.

[Escurumbele]

4. I am sure most people understand here what the problem was and why the likelihood of all three

missing the penalties was high.

The coach from England, Southgate, made a huge mistake, I will explain.

The last names of the three players who missed the penalties are Rashford, Sancho and Saka.

Both Rashford and Sancho entered the game at the very last minute, for some reason the coach, Southgate, decided to wait almost at the last second of the match to sub them in. What is the problem with this move? Neither player had enough time to warm up, to get the natural stiffness off their legs and mind. The moment I saw Rashford as the 3rd penalty kicker I started complaining because I had a hunch that what happened would happen, then I had the same reaction when Sancho came next.

Then we have the last one who missed the penalty, his name is Saka, a 19-year-old young man, fantastic player, but you simply do not have a kid in a situation where he MUST score the penalty in a final of this stature.

The conclusion is that none of those three should be blamed for England loosing on penalties. Southgate, the coach, lost it for England, not only because of his bad choices during the penalties but because he decided to keep England on the defense after they scored the goal two minutes into the game.

It is unfortunate that the ignorant who are taking their anger at the players don't realize what really happened, but then again we all know that most racists are racists because they are ignorant.

[mcar]

5. Your analysis is spot on

Place the blame where it should lay, not on these 3 young athletes who were facing a ridiculous situation.

[iluvtennis]

9. Ditto. n/t

[VWolf]

6. Hard to argue with any of your analysis

I support the Azzurri, but in the end I felt bad for England. My mates and I were scratching our heads over Southgate's decisions even before the PK's began.

The scenes of a disconsolate Saka were heartbreaking.

ETA - FUCK RACISTS!!!!!

[C Moon]

11. Why would he have done that? It sounds like suicide...

both for the team and his job.

[róisín_dubh]

7. A horrendous display of racist abuse...

and the behaviour of some England fans more generally was truly appalling. I was fortunate enough to watch in my local social club, where everyone is pretty much my parents' ages and we all had a blast. But scenes from London and elsewhere, and then seeing what these three young lads experienced on social media...Infuriating.

[Mr. Sparkle]

8. The original hillbilly came from the UK.

They are just living up to their heritage, scapegoating black people.

[eissa]

10. I feared this would happen

With the three missed kicks by the Black players, I turned to my husband and said, "this is going to bring the racists out again." Those cretins are nothing if not predictable.

[regnaD kciN]

12. I suspect this is the last time UEFA/FIFA award England a major tournament for some time...

...although, in fairness, I would note that some fanbases in Italy are no prizes, either. In particular, Nazio...I mean Lazio, Mussolini's favorite club, has supporters (think soccer-loving Proud Boys) who regularly come up with racist chants against Black players on opposing teams, and even some directed at Jewish opponents about how they'll send them to the gas chambers.