- Advertisement -
HomeUK NewsPM: racist abusers 'should be ashamed of themselves' after Euro finals

PM: racist abusers ‘should be ashamed of themselves’ after Euro finals

While fans had a good time and cheered the team on, some of them wanted to cause damage and racist abuse of players that they blamed for the loss

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that those who were sending racist abuse to some England players online following last night’s Euro 2020 finals penalty shootout defeat “should be ashamed of themselves”.

Mr Johnson had tweeted: “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.”

He was also echoed by the Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer who said that those who were sending offensive messages to players are a “disgrace” who “don’t represent us at all”.

There was widespread praise for the performance by the young England team on the pitch at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening.

This comes after nineteen officers were injured after they “confronted volatile crowds” in London after the game, with 49 people being arrested. England supporters who had attacked officers after last night’s Euro 2020 final defeat are “thugs not fans”, the Metropolitan Police Federation has said.

England had come within reach of winning the 2020 European Championship, only losing 3-2 to the Italian national team in a penalty shoot-out.

But their performance was marred by a myriad of racist abuse on social media, with three black players, Bukayo Saka, 19, Marcus Rashford, 23, and Jadon Sancho, 21, targeted by racists over missing penalties within the dying minutes of the game.

Police have said that they were investigating the “racist and offensive” messages and the Football Association have added that it “strongly condemns” such kinds of behaviour.

The abuse has also attracted widespread criticism from across the political spectrum, with the UK’s government promising action.

UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said that social media companies “need to up their game”.

Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said the “vile” abuse “has no place in our country” and that she will “back the police to hold those responsible accountable”.

Health minister Edward Argar said that a proposed piece of legislation that could help crack down on racist abuse online is being brought forward.

This comes after UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against England after fans shone a laser at Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel during the Euro 2020 semi-final and booed the Scandinavian country’s national anthem.

The government had announced plans for a new law in May that could see the top social media companies being fined up to 10% of turnover or £18 million ($25 million) if they fail in stamping out online abuse, including racist hate crimes.

Argar said: “We are bringing forward at the moment measures in our Online Harms Bill to strengthen how internet and social media platforms behave and their responsibilities to take action against this sort of behaviour.

“It would be further strengthening because, as I say, the police are already investigating, so they are already looking into possible offences committed here.”

Eve Cooper
Eve Cooper
I've been writing articles and stories for as long as I can remember and in the past few years I've had the fortune of turning that love & passion for writing into my job :)

Breaking News Today is a small UK business struggling to stay afloat during COVID lockdown. If you enjoyed this article or found it useful please subscribe to all of our social media outlets.

285,116FansLike
813FollowersFollow
764FollowersFollow
14SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisement -

Stay Connected

285,116FansLike
813FollowersFollow
764FollowersFollow
14SubscribersSubscribe

Must Read

- Advertisement -