FA slam ‘abhorrent racist chanting' by Montenegro fans during England’s Euro 2020 qualifier

Sterling celebrates in front of the Montenegro fans after scoring England's fifth goal
REUTERS/Stevo Vasiljevic
Vaishali Bhardwaj26 March 2019

The Football Association has welcomed Uefa's investigation into the "abhorrent" racist chants heard during England's Euro 2020 qualifier away to Montenegro on Monday night, and say sanctions and education are needed to kick such incidents out of football.

European football's governing body announced on Tuesday morning that Montenegro have been charged with five offences, including racist behaviour, after England's black players were targeted by racial abuse in the 5-1 win in Podgorica.

England manager Gareth Southgate said after the victory that a complaint was made to Uefa, who have since confirmed that their control, ethics and disciplinary body wil handle the case on May 16, which could result in a partial stadium ban for Montenegro.

And the FA welcomed the news, saying in a statement: "On Monday evening, England players were subjected to abhorrent racist chanting while playing in a Uefa Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro. This is unacceptable at any level of the game and we welcome Uefa’s decision today to take disciplinary action.

"Our immediate focus is on supporting Uefa with their investigation and the players and staff involved.

"The issues we saw last night are not isolated to any specific country, and despite progress English football still has its own incidents of discrimination.

"Our experience is that by combining both sanctions and education, whilst working alongside campaigners such as Kick It Out, real progress can be made. But there remains much work to be done."

Raheem Sterling was seen cupping his ears as he celebrated his 80th-minute goal in response to the racist chants.

In Pictures | Montenegro vs England | 25/03/2019

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The Manchester City winger, who also created two goals against Montenegro, later called for Uefa to hand harsher penalties out to nations found guilty of racial abuse.

He told Sky Sports: "It's 2019, I keep saying it, and it's a shame to see this keeps going on . We can only bring awareness and light to the situation. It's now time for the people in charge to put a real stamp on it. You've got to punish people a bit harder, you've gotta do something that makes them think twice.

"If you can't play in front of fans then that's going to make them think harder. Me and the FA can only do so much, we've got to leave it to the people in charge to make a proper stance on it."

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