It is firmly believed that sports is the one thing that bring people closer together no matter what the circumstance. But one cannot live in a world where such ignorance can also be bliss. In the recent past there have been incidents of racial abuse may it be sports related or otherwise.
There is and has always been racial slurs used even in the arena of sports and the type of sports really doesn’t make a difference. Since the world is going forward and adjusting to certain way of life because of the pandemic larger sports events are taking place. One of these was the Euro 2020.
It was here that a player of African descent was racially abused after England lost in the final. Following a grueling 115-plus minutes of pulse-racing soccer Sunday at London’s Wembley Stadium, the winner of EURO 2020 would emerge after a penalty shootout between England and Italy. With tension running high, Italy won in a 3-2 shootout, shattering the hearts of England fans, who wanted to bask in the glow of a championship after 55 years of waiting. Some fans, however, were enraged and directed their hate toward some the players who missed penalty kicks — Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka. All three are Black.
The fans displayed all this racial hate on their social media which was then quickly seen by the country’s top leaders. This Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William, who is the president of England’s Football Association, came to the defense of the players. The prince then quoted on twitter “I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night’s match, it is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behavior. It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable.” Which was closely followed by the prime minister also coming on his twitter and quoting “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.”
