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England Footballers Receive Over 2000 Abusive Messages On Social Media After Euro 2020 Group Games

England Footballers Receive Over 2000 Abusive Messages On Social Media After Euro 2020 Group Games

The grim findings from The Guardian suggest a large chunk of the online abuse is also racist with some messages including monkey emojis.

Max Sherry

Max Sherry

Damning new statistics prove just how much hatred is directed towards modern day footballers online.

The English national team has reportedly been hit with well over 2000 abusive social media posts from fans throughout their Euro 2020 group stage campaign.

According to new figures from The Guardian, the players were subject to exactly 2114 abusive tweets (yes, that's just from Twitter alone and not any other platform) across the games against Croatia, Scotland and the Czech Republic.

It's understood some of this abuse is racist too, with messages even including monkey emojis and the N-word.

The England national team.
PA Images

The analysis carried out by The Guardian aims to "illustrate the shocking levels of hatred" that goes unheard and ultimately unpunished on social media.

And, well, the awful numbers speak for themselves.

The figures suggest that England captain Harry Kane copped the most amount of vile abuse among the playing group having received a whopping 506 tweets.

Harry Kane.
PA

The Three Lions' top scorer for the tournament Raheem Sterling wasn't too far behind his skipper, receiving 430 alone with almost a quarter of the abuse in the opening match being racist.

Elsewhere, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Jordan Pickford and Tyrone Mings have also been the subjects of vulgar comments and posts.

That said, it was actually the England manager Gareth Southgate who was the primary focus for much of the abuse having received well over 700 messages from fans.

The stats also suggest some of the hate was directed towards the team's decision to take a knee before kick-offs in protest against racism.

Upon reading the truly grim findings, chair of anti-racism organisations Kick It Out and Football Online Hate Working Group Sanjay Bhandari said: "The findings from this research are saddening because they are so grimly predictable.

"Abuse and discrimination aimed at minorities and their allies have become sadly normalised on social media to the point where a piece of hate is taken down every second of every minute of every hour of every day, 365 days a year.

Gareth Southgate.
PA

"This is an industrial-scale technology problem that requires industrial-scale technology solutions. We need social media to step up the pace on developing technology solutions. We also need the government to step up the pace on regulation, to accelerate the passage of the online safety bill.

"I would also thank the many powerful allies like Gareth Southgate who use their platforms with courage to stand up for their colleagues and for what is right."

Not that it matters anyway, but England remain undefeated at Euro 2020 and are still the only team yet to concede a goal in the tournament.

The Three Lions now face age-old rivals Germany in the Round of 16.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football News, Racism, Football, Euro 2020, England, Gareth Southgate, Euros, Australia, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling