EURO 2020 : Johnson condemns racist abuse of England footballers

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday condemned racist abuse towards England football team players following their defeat in the European Championship final. London's Metropolitan Police opened investigations into offensive social media posts directed at three Black players - Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka - who missed penalties in England's shootout loss to Italy. Johnson said, "To those who have been directing racist abuse at some of the players, I said shame on you and I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged because this entire team played like heroes." A mural of Rashford on the wall of a cafe in south Manchester was also defaced with graffiti in the wake of the match. The racist abuse, which was condemned as “unforgivable" by England coach Gareth Southgate, has led to calls for social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, to do more in hunting down the perpetrators of the abuse. All three players targeted are part of a young England squad that has been widely praised for its diversity and social conscience. Rashford, for one, has been at the forefront of a campaign against child poverty, which convinced the British government to restore free lunches for thousands of poor children amid the coronavirus pandemic.