*British police are investigating the racist abuse of three Black players who missed penalty kicks in England’s shootout loss to Italy Sunday 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.
The racist abuse towards Bukayo Saka has started. No words… pic.twitter.com/nRNk0BGQSG
— em???? (@awfcemily) July 11, 2021
The targeted players – who were referenced on social media with monkey and poop emojis, as well as other symbols deemed racist under certain contexts – are part of a team that has been widely praised for its diversity and social conscience. Rashford, in particular, has helped lead a campaign against child poverty, which convinced the British government to restore free lunches for thousands of disadvantaged children amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A mural of Rashford on the wall of a cafe in south Manchester was also defaced in the wake of Sunday’s match. Greater Manchester Police said they were investigating the “racially aggravated damage.”
Although British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves,” he has faced criticism for emboldening those booing the England team for taking a knee before their matches to protest against racial injustice. Last month, Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister is “more focused on action rather than gestures.” That comment led to widespread criticism that Johnson was effectively encouraging those booing to carry on. Three days later, his spokesman backtracked, saying the prime minister “respects the right of all people to peacefully protest and make their feelings known about injustices” and that he wanted to to cheer the team on and “not boo.”
Facebook, which owns Instagram, said Monday it tries to remove harmful content as quickly as possible and encouraged people to use the tools it offers to block abuse.
“We quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse at England’s footballers last night and we’ll continue to take action against those that break our rules,” it said in a statement.
Twitter said the “abhorrent racist abuse” has no place on its platform, adding it removed more than 1,000 tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts for violating its rules. “We will continue to take action,” Twitter said, “when we identify any tweets or accounts that violate our policies.”
Watch a report about the racial abuse following Sunday’s championship game below:
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