Racist abuse targets 3 English players who missed penalties in Euro soccer final

After Italy lifted the EURO 2020 trophy against England in an epic finale to the European Championships at Wembley, violence ensued onto the streets of London with disgruntled England fans unleashing mayhem onto their Italian counterparts. The aftermath of the match saw an ugly side of some England sports fans who began to physically, verbally, and racially attacking their Italian counterparts.

The streets of London saw vandalism and violence which escalated to physical brawls between some groups. In some visuals, English fans were seen insulting Italy’s national flag by stomping on it. Three Black players who missed penalty kicks for England in the decisive European Championship shootout against Italy on Sunday night were subjected to racist abuse online, prompting the English Football Association to issue a statement condemning the language used against the players. Bukayo Saka, at 19 one of the youngest players on the England squad, missed the penalty that gave the title to Italy and denied England its first international trophy since the 1966 World Cup. It was England’s third straight failure from the penalty spot in the shootout, with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho also missing. The FA said in a statement it was “appalled” by the abuse of the three players. London’s Metropolitan Police also said it was investigating “offensive and racist” messages on social media.