Bukayo Saka, a 19-year-old England winger, endured racist comments on social media after missing the final penalty kick that secured Italy’s victory in the Euro 2020 Final on Sunday.

While many others condemned the racial abuse online, the FA issued a statement condemning the racist abuse directed towards England’s minority players.

“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behavior is not welcome in following the team,” it said in a statement.

“We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.

“It goes on to request social media platforms to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.”

England’s impressive tournament came to an end with a 3-2 loss to Italy during penalties after Luca Shaw found the back of the net just 2 minutes into the first half.

The discussion online also involved questions like why the coach decided to have the final kick be that of the least experienced player in a team as England’s line-up is filled with world-class players such as Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, amongst others.

The last three penalty kicks for England was played by Rashford, Sancho, and Saka all of which didn’t see the back of the net, and while many were quick to slam the players, others acknowledged their impressive efforts in getting to the final and condemned people sending in hate tweets.

Mingle
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