In the hours following the final of the European football championship, in which Italy beat England on penalties, several English players who belong to an ethnic minority received racist insults online for missing their penalty. The players in question are Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. The social profiles of the three were filled with racist slurs and monkey-faced emojis, like confirmed even by the police.
A mural depicting Rashford in Manchester was smeared with other racist slurs, which were later covered up. The English football federation, national team manager Gareth Southgate and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the insults.
(Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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It is not the first time that similar incidents have involved English players who belong to ethnic minorities. Jude Bellingham, team mate of Rashford, Sancho and Saka, he tweeted a comment in support of them adding: «it hurts me but I’m not surprised». Several other players are expressing their solidarity, and in the last few hours the social profiles of the three players involved are full of praise and compliments for the performance of England, who reached the final of an international tournament for the first time in half a century.
Some insiders have accused the British right of creating a climate that legitimizes racism in various parts of British society. The Athletic he quoted for example, comments like that of Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke that Rashford “should have spent more time on improving his game and less on politics.” Rashford has been busy for years in a major charity campaign for British children from low-income families.
Former player and commentator Gary Neville was even more direct, accusing Boris Johnson and his government of creating a hostile climate towards players who kneel against racism and in favor of inclusion.
“It starts at the very top.”
Former footballer @ GNev2 says has called on Boris Johnson to take a tougher stance on racism in football after some England players received abuse online following last night’s clash with Italy.#Euro2020: https://t.co/KUBv2VLGWI pic.twitter.com/VoJPtslaaP
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 12, 2021
In England in recent years there has been a noticeable increase hate crimes against ethnic and religious minorities and against people with a minority sexual orientation. Meanwhile the Conservative party has moved further and further to the right on various issues, including immigration. Last week Interior Minister Priti Patel he proposed a reform of the reception system which aims to limit the right of asylum for those arriving illegally in the United Kingdom.
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