British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday condemned the "appalling" racial abuse of players on social media following the Three Lions' loss in the Euro Cup final against Italy.
Italy ended England's dream to win the Euro 2020 here at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday (local time). Azzurri defeated England 3-2 on penalties after the normal 90-minute action had finished at 1-1 and even extra time was not able to break the deadlock.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka all missed the chance to net goals in the penalty shootouts. The English players were then abused on social media.
The British Prime Minister said England players "deserve" to be lauded for their heroics and shouldn't be "racially abused" on social media.
"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," Boris Johnson tweeted.
England's Football Association in the early hours of Monday morning also condemned racist abuse of players. "The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media," an official statement 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," it added.
The England football team said it felt "disgusted" when the players were subjected to "discriminatory abuse" on social media following the Euro Cup final loss.
"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," the England team tweeted.
After England got off to a flying start, Leonardo Bonucci got the equaliser for Italy as he netted the ball into the goalpost in the 67th minute, bringing the scoreline level at 1-1.
No more goals were scored in the match, and hence the game had to progress to extra time. The extra time was also not able to separate the two teams, and hence the game progressed to the much-dreaded penalty shootout. In the penalty shootout, Italy edged out England 3-2 and as a result, Italy won their second Euro title.
( With inputs from ANI )
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