Good Morning Britain star Sean Fletcher says he feels “depressed” after England players were hit with racist abuse following their Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy
The Football Association has condemned racist abuse aimed at England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after Sunday’s match.
All three players missed penalties in the 3-2 shootout loss and were later targeted on social media by trolls after the game.
The Metropolitan Police is investigating the abuse and said “it will not be tolerated”.
Reporting live from outside Wembley Stadium on Monday morning, Sean chatted to Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley about the aftermath of the game.
(Image: ITV)
He said: “It’s always interesting isn’t it? Those comments afterwards.
“For me, I was sitting right by where the penalties were being taken because it was up the England end.
“And the first thing, of course, when you see Rashford, Saka and Sancho miss those penalties is England are out.
“But immediately within seconds, as a black man, my thought was well they’re going to get a lot of abuse on social media.”
(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
He added: “Sad that I thought that but that’s immediately what I think and I guess it’s that I’ve got a very small public profile and I’ve experienced a small amount of that and that’s immediately what happens on Twitter.
“I knew it would happen and then on my way home, it took me a long time to get through the crowds, but I could see on Twitter that was happening.
“It’s so depressing isn’t it because those player have given so much. They’ve made the nation proud and look what they get.”
The FA released an official statement just hours after the match in regards to the racist abuse online.
It read: “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.”
Rashford, 23, highlighted racial abuse he received on social media in May after losing the Europa League final with Manchester United.
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And last year Sancho, 21, was among sport stars protesting against racism following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Following numerous instances of online abuse, a number of clubs, players, athletes and sporting bodies took part in a four-day boycott of social media in April to encourage companies to take a stronger stance against racist and sexist abuse.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV at 6am
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
