At this point, soccer and racism are like peanut butter and jelly. They always seem to go together. At the European Championship final, they paired up once again.
At the conclusion of the nerve-wracking match, England and Italy were tied 1-1. So the teams headed to penalty kicks.
Unfortunately for England, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed their kicks. Rashford hit the post and both Sancho and Saka had their kicks blocked by Italy’s goalkeeper. The result was a 3-2 Shootout victory for Italy.
It was a painful, heartbreaking loss for England. But for the aforementioned players, it became more personal as their skin color made them targets.
Across social media and the country, racists released their venom at the players. “Ni**ers” flooded the Twittersphere. In England, a mural of Rashford was defaced with racist language.
The actions, though unfortunately not unsurprising, were swiftly condemned by players, the team, organizers, and English authorities.
“There is absolutely no place for racism in football or anywhere else,” tweeted London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan. “Those responsible for the disgusting online abuse we have seen must be held accountable – and social media companies need to act immediately to remove and prevent this hate.”
The FA echoed Mayor Khan’s statement.
“The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media,” tweeted the FA. “We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.”
“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,” said England coach Gareth Southgate today. He called the racist abuse directed at his players “unforgivable.”
Ironically, the team has been praised for its diversity and support for humanitarian causes. Rashford fought against child poverty and contributed to the British government’s restoration of free lunches for poor children during the pandemic.
Yet none of that mattered to those who attacked him and his Black teammates.
Saka, only 19 years old, and his teammates had taken a knee during the tournament as a call to end racial inequality. But his missed kick shattered the unity they had achieved and brought out the racists that continue to plague “The Beautiful Game”.
The derogatory comments on Rashford’s mural were covered over by black tarp, but the pain of the racist comments remain for Black players on England and across the sport.
