Bukayo Saka has been subjected to racist abuse after he missed the last penalty in England’s heartbreaking Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy. The 19-year-old Arsenal star came off the bench and took the fifth penalty during their shoot-out defeat to Italy.
Gianluigi Donnarumma saved Saka’s effort, which proved to be a crucial moment as Italy were crowned European Champions.
Sadly, in the immediate aftermath of the game, Saka has suffered sickening racial abuse with several disgusting posts on his Instagram account.
The Arsenal star was targeted with racist language and emojis on the social media website, on his most recent post from the day before the final. One user told him ‘get out of my country, while another said: ‘Go back to Nigeria’.
Meanwhile, Arsenal has released a statement condemning the racist abuse at its 19-year-old player after the Arsenal star missed a penalty in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat against Italy on Sunday night.
Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Saka also missed penalties for England and they became the subject of some vile racist abuse following the defeat.
Arsenal in its statement condemned the racist comments at Saka and black players on social media.
The statement reads in part, “Last night, we saw Bukayo Saka reach the Euro 2020 final at the age of 19 years old.
“Bukayo has been with us since he was seven and the whole club couldn’t have been prouder to see him represent England throughout the tournament.
“You could feel it right across the club. Last night we witnessed the leadership and character we have always known and loved in Bukayo.
“However, this feeling of pride quickly turned to sorrow at the racist comments our young player(Saka) was subjected to on his social media platforms after the final whistle.
“Once again, we are sad to have to say we condemn the racism of several black players.”
Arsenal urged the social media platforms to take a stand to ensure racist abuse on players daily is curtailed.
“This can’t continue, and the social media platforms and authorities must act to ensure this disgusting abuse to which our players are subjected on a daily basis stops now,” the statement added.
In a statement, Instagram said: “No one should have to experience racist abuse anywhere, and we don’t want it on Instagram.
“We quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse at England’s footballers last night and we’ll continue to take action against those that break our rules.
“In addition to our work to remove this content, we encourage all players to turn on Hidden Words, a tool which means no one has to see abuse in their comments or DMs.
“No one thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we’re committed to keeping our community safe from abuse.’
The FA said it was ‘appalled’ by the abuse and would do everything possible to support players affected by racism.
“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team,’ said the FA in a statement.
“We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore the government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real-life consequences.
“Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.”
The youngster has been one of the stars of the tournament for England, making four appearances and putting in some fantastic displays.
