Action needs to be taken to stop racist abuse, proclaims Gareth Bale

On-the-pitch events were marred by disruption in the stands as Hungary fans directed racial abuse and threw projectiles at members of the Three Lions team during their match against England on Thursday. Despite appeals from Hungary manager Marco Rossi and the players to respect England's gesture at kick-off, the English players were booed loudly for taking a knee against racism. 

Sterling was targeted by the hostile crowd as he was pelted with bottles and paper cups after he opened the scoring for the Three Lions. A flair was thrown onto the pitch after Harry Maguire scored a header to put England 3-0 ahead in a match. Jude Bellingham was also subject to jeers and racial abuse from the touchlines by the home crowd while manager Southgate had ice thrown at him during his post-match interview.

Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale called for harsh punishments for teams that are found to be guilty as a strong deterrent for future cases.

"The action needs to be taken to stop it. The easiest thing is whether you ban the fans from the stadium or if they keep repeatedly doing it, which seems to be what is happening, then you ban the country from the competition,” told Bale to the BBC.

"I think it kicks it out straight away. If that country keeps making these horrible gestures, then maybe the best thing to do is to get rid of them, give them a suspension and hopefully, they will learn their lesson that way," he added.