England united on fight against racism, says Gareth Southgate
England boss Gareth Southgate has given assurances that his squad remains “100 per cent united” on the fight against racism and the players are aware on how to react to racism in their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers. England faces the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in this round of Euro qualifiers.
England manager Gareth Southgate has insisted that all players in the squad have agreed to collectively abandon the game if any of the players are subjected to repeated racial abuse. Sky Sports reports that Southgate held a team meeting to discuss the action that can be taken against racism and it is understood the squad will follow UEFA's three-step protocol, which includes issuing warnings to the crowd before a match is called off.
"What we will experience as a group over the next few days are a huge number of questions and anybody that gets one slight nuance that is adrift of the general feeling of what was discussed as a group is going to be flagged as a possible disagreement. That is absolutely not the case, everybody is very clear. I'm so conscience, my players are being put in very difficult situations every time they are questioned on the subject,” said Southgate to the Sky Sports.
England and Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling was a victim of racial abuse in England’s European qualifier against Montenegro earlier this year. Sterling admitted he was completely unaware of UEFA’s protocols at that time but is now willing to support them. The winger has not only been abused racially on the international level but has also faced racial abuse in club matches.
"You feel that one word out of place or one incorrect phrasing leads to possible problems that could be flagged towards another team, made to make a story towards another team or potentially made to look as if there's a split or a disagreement in our camp. We're 100 per cent united on how we see things," added Southgate.
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