England’s Bukayo Saka said he “knew instantly the kind of hate” he was going to receive after his penalty was saved in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final.
Saka’s miss – along with earlier misses by Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho – saw Italy beat England in a penalty shootout to win the tournament.
All three players received racist abuse on social media after the game.
“I will not let that moment or the negativity that I’ve received this week break me,” he added in a Twitter post.
The 19-year-old Arsenal player directed his comments about the way he was treated online at social media platforms Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
He said expecting such abuse “is a sad reality” and that “powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages”.
“I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me Marcus and Jadon have received this week,” he continued.
“There is no place for racism or hate of any kind in football or in any area of society and to the majority of people coming together to call out the people sending these messages, by taking action and reporting these comments to the police and by driving out the hate by being kind to one another, we will win.”
Five people have been arrested after Saka and his teammates were racially abused online.
More to follow.
