British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced his intention to ban football fans who have used racist slurs against players online from the stadium after such attacks targeting three black players in the England squad.
After the final of the EDuro-2020 lost by England against Italy on Sunday at Wembley, Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford had been targeted by a torrent of racist attacks on social networks, unanimously condemned by the government to sports bodies.
“I strongly condemn the racist outbursts we witnessed on Sunday evening“, declared the conservative leader in front of the deputies.
“And so, what we are doing today is taking practical steps to ensure that the football (stadium) ban regime is changed, so that if you are guilty of racist slurs on online footballers, you will not be able to make it to the match. No corn, no exemptions and no excuses“, he announced.
Entering at the end of the match on Sunday at London’s Wembley Stadium, the three players had missed their shots on goal, sealing the defeat of England and thus shattering the dream of an entire country hoping to win a second major title, 55 years after its home success during the 1966 World Cup.
The government itself has been accused of hypocrisy, including by teammate Tyrone Mings, for refusing to condemn supporters booing the Three Lions when they kneel down to denounce racism. Boris Johnson defended himself.
On Tuesday, the leader had received representatives from social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram in Downing Street.
“We now have the opportunity to hold these companies to account and put them at risk of fines.“, said the leader, in reference to a government bill on online security, which provides for sanctions of up to 10% of their global revenues.
