IFA President and former Deputy Police Chief condemns racist abuse against England players

The president of the Irish Football Association has called for those responsible for the racist abuse targeted against English football players to be held accountable.

Former PSNI Acting Deputy Police Chief Stephen Martin has said he supports players who suffered racist abuse on social media following the Three Lions Euro 2020 loss to Italy on Sunday night.

The social media pages of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were inundated with racist comments following England’s loss on penalties, leading the Football Association to issue a statement condemning the “disgusting behavior”.

Metropolitan Police said they would investigate the abuse, which was also condemned by Boris Johnson and Prince William, who attended the match with their son George and wife Kate.

Mr Martin, who retired from the police force after 34 years in 2020, said in a tweet that the abuse was “outrageous and unacceptable” to all three players.

“These are sports models who have also used their influence so positively for social good off the pitch,” he said. “I am with them. Bullies need to be stopped and held accountable. “

An FA spokesperson said they condemned “all forms of discrimination and were appalled at the online racism which targeted some of our English players on social media.”

“We couldn’t be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behavior is unwelcome to follow the team. We will do our utmost to support the players concerned while demanding the most severe penalties possible for anyone responsible.

“We will continue to do all we can to eliminate discrimination, but we urge the government to act quickly and pass the appropriate legislation so that this abuse has real consequences.

“Social media companies need to step up their efforts and take responsibility and take action to ban attackers from their platforms, collect evidence that can lead to prosecution and support the release of their platforms from this kind of heinous abuse. “

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the England team deserve to be ‘hailed as heroes’, not racist abuse on social media. “Those responsible for these appalling abuses should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.

The Metropolitan Police also condemned the “unacceptable” abuses, adding that they would investigate “offensive and racist” posts on social media.

The force said in a statement on Twitter: “We are aware of a number of offensive and racist comments on social media directed at footballers following the # Euro2020 final.

“This abuse is completely unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated.”

The official Twitter account of the England men’s and women’s national teams has offered support to the victimized players.

He said in a statement: “We are disgusted that some of our team – who gave their all for the shirt this summer – suffered discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game.

“We are in solidarity with our players. “

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called on social media companies to do more to hold those responsible for sending online abuse to account.

He wrote on Twitter: “There is absolutely no room for racism in football or anywhere else.

“Those responsible for the disgusting online abuse we have seen must be held accountable – and social media companies must act immediately to eliminate and prevent this hatred. “