The Football Association and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have condemned the racist abuse directed towards England trio Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in the aftermath of Sunday’s Euro 2020 final.
Saka, Rashford and Sancho have been subjected to foul messages on social media after missing penalties in the shoot-out against Italy at Wembley.
A statement released in the early hours of Monday morning, per @FAspokesperson on Twitter, said: "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."
Shocking racist messages sent to England players
Screenshots posted to social media of some of the abuse directed towards the England trio show a glimpse of the disgraceful and upsetting messages sent by mostly anonymous individuals on platforms including Twitter and Instagram.
Boris Johnson tweets
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson tweeted the following message on Monday morning: “This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
“Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
Metropolitan Police tweet
The Metropolitan Police are aware of the situation and say “it will be investigated”.
“We are aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the #Euro2020 final,” a tweet sent from the Met’s official Twitter account read.
“This abuse is totally unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated.”
More needs to be done to tackle racist abuse online
England’s players have taken the knee before matches at this summer’s European Championships to highlight the fight against racial inequality.
A four-day social media blackout also took place in April to encourage companies to take a stronger stance against racist abuse.
It’s clear that plenty still needs to be done.
England lose on penalties - again (Football Terrace)
How much about England's Euro 2020 players do you really know? [Quiz]