England manager Gareth Southgate and captain Harry Kane have both condemned the racist abuse directed at players following their penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
Southgate described the abuse directed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed their spot kicks at Wembley on Sunday night, as unforgivable.
Kane said the young trio deserve support and backing, adding on Twitter: If you abuse anyone on social media, you’re not an England fan and we don’t want you. Southgate responded to the abuse at a news conference this morning.
It’s just not what we stand for, he said. We have been a beacon of light in bringing people together, in people being able to relate to the national team, and the national team stands for everybody, and so that togetherness has to continue. We have shown the power our country has when it does come together and has that energy and positivity together.
Asked about how frustrating the abuse was, alongside other disrespectful and offensive behaviour from a minority of supporters, Southgate said: We can’t control that. We can only set the example that we believe we should and represent the country in the way that we feel.
I think the players… have had a positive effect on lots of areas of society but we can’t affect everything. Other people have responsibilities in those areas and we’ve all got to work collectively to constantly improve those things.