By Ashley Young-
Five people have been arrested after England footballers were racially abused online following their Euro 2020 final defeat, will result in weak sentences, if the track records of the courts are anything to go by.
The British courts have a history of handing out very weak sentences for racist offences, damning evidence of successive government’s historical weak response to racism in the Uk. Racism in football have continued for decades because of the court’s very soft punitive measures against racism. Its message to the British public is that racism is not that serious.
A research conducted by the Runnymede Trust, concluded that racism is still “systemic” in England and legislation, institutional practices and customs are harming ethnic minority groups. It described the recent Sewell report as dishonest and divisive
Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were racially abused after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final , in what Chief Constable Mark Roberts (pictured)described the abuse as “utterly vile”.
“If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions,” he said. Police said “a torrent of racist comments aimed at some of the team’s black players” appeared on social media platforms on Sunday, after England lost on penalties to Italy in the final at Wembley.
The UK Football Policing Unit said its team was working through “a significant number of reports of racist abuse”.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, revealed on Wednesday the government plans to extend football banning orders for online racism, while social media companies face huge fines if they fail to remove abuse from their platforms.
A police statement read: “A hate crime investigation is underway by the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), with a dedicated team of investigators working their way through a large number of reports from across the country.
“Dozens of data applications have been submitted to social media companies and four people have been arrested by local police forces.”
In a stark warning to those guilty of sending online abuse, Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council Football Policing Lead, said: “If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down, and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions.
“The racial abuse aimed at our own players following Sunday night’s game is utterly vile and has quite rightly shocked and appalled people across the country.
Cheshire Police said its latest arrest was of a 42-year-old man from Runcorn on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting written material that is likely to stir up racial hatred. The force said he was arrested as part of an investigation into a racist social media message, which was posted after the Euro 2020 final.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council football policing lead, said the racial abuse “has quite rightly shocked and appalled people across the country”.
“Our England team have been true role models during the tournament, conducting themselves with professionalism and dignity. I’m disgusted there are individuals out there who think it’s acceptable to direct such abhorrent abuse at them, or at anybody else.”
He said the investigation would continue to try to find those responsible, adding that officers were working closely with social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. England manager Gareth Southgate has said the racist abuse aimed at Rashford, Sancho and Saka was “unforgivable”.
However, the British courts have a history of handing out very weak sentences for racist offences.
After The Eye Of Media.Com pushed for the prosecution of Roy Larner, after he was caught on film racially abusing a group of black protesters, calling one of them a black cxxx, spitting on a black photographer, the Millwall supporter was only fined £50, and given an 8 week suspended sentence for 12 months.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to ban people guilty of sending racist abuse to footballers from attending matches. He said he would ensure the “football banning order regime is changed” to crack down on racism.