The Football Association has condemned the racist online abuse suffered by a number of England players following the teams Euro 2020 loss to Italy.
Marcus Rashford Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all failed from the spot on Sunday night as England went down on penalties.
The mural of Marcus Rashford in Withington was also vandalised after the match with graffiti written over it.
Many people have come out on social media to defend the players who missed the penalties
Piers Morgan tweeting
“I admire every player who steps up & shows the balls to take a penalty in a game that important. Especially when they’re just 19, 21 & 23. Proud of you @BukayoSaka87 @Sanchooo10 @MarcusRashford- you missed, and we lost, but you’ve all got guts.”
While Manchester United’s twitter account said:
”One kick won’t define you as a player or person, Marcus. Remember that.
❤️ We look forward to welcoming you home.”
A spokesperson for the FA said: “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.
“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team. We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences.
“Social media companies need 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.”
