LONDON: English football players Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were subjected to online racial abuse on Sunday after missing penalties in the England Euro 2020 final. 

Within minutes of the 19-year-old footballer Saka missing the penalty, his Instagram account was flooded with racial abuse. 

The racist abuse towards Bukayo Saka has started. No words… pic.twitter.com/nRNk0BGQSG

— em (@awfcemily) July 11, 2021

The Football Association (FA) released a statement condemning the abuse and said that the FA was “appalled by the online racism” targeting players on social media.

“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behavior is not welcome in following the team,” a spokesperson said. “We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.”

Several politicians also called out the appalling online behavior of some English fans, including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and some Labour MPs. 

Johnson tweeted on Monday: “This England team deserves to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media. Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”

Labour MP David Lammy also criticized the racist abuse directed at the three players and said that this was exactly the kind of behavior that prompted people to take the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Meanwhile, the England team’s official Twitter account released a statement condemning the online abuse of their players. 

We’re disgusted that some of our squad – who have given everything for the shirt this summer – have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game.

We stand with our players https://t.co/1Ce48XRHEl

— England (@England) July 12, 2021