Bulgaria 0-6 England: Racist abuse in Sofia proves Uefa’s protocols are not strong enough
Tyrone Mings made his international debut tonight, a moment the 26-year-old must have dreamt of since childhood.
But rather than remembering it for the proud occasion it should have been, Mings will instead reflect on a night on which he was subjected to racist abuse while simply doing his job.
The Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski in Sofia had 5,000 of its 46,340 seats blocked off for England’s visit. The gaps in the stadium were filled by banners with the slogan #EqualGame Respect written on them following incidents of racism during Bulgaria’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kosovo and the Czech Republic in June.
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That message was soon made a mockery of. Monkey noises. Nazi salutes. Hoods up and scarves obscuring faces. Those were the ugly sights picked up by the television cameras. That was the backdrop England’s players were forced to play in front of.
“What I can say is that I don’t think we have a problem,” Bulgaria coach Krasimir Balakov had said pre-match. “I don’t think that we have this big problem like, for example, England do.”
Around 24 hours after making those comments that same Balakov was shown how ridiculous they were. Bulgaria’s coach was seen remonstrating with England’s players on the touchline midway through the first half, arms raised as he apparently attempted to play down the audible, shameful and unacceptable abuse coming from the stands around him.
England kept their cool. Uefa’s protocols, which had been discussed as a team prior to the game, were followed.
Mings reported monkey noises and the complaint was passed on to England manager Gareth Southgate, who informed a Uefa official. An announcement was then made over the public address system. “Please be in no doubt that the game may be suspended and abandoned if racist behaviour continues,” it warned.
Despite the threat, racist abuse continued. It was complained about a second time. Another delay followed, just before the interval. But the match was not abandoned.
On the half-time whistle Bulgaria captain Ivelin Popov went over to the fans, seemingly to plead with them to stop. According to Football Association chairman Greg Clarke, some 50 offenders were thrown out. England came back out after half-time and, cheered on by their away support but with abuse continuing intermittently, set about putting some more goals past a hapless Bulgaria side to take another step towards Euro 2020 next summer.
While unfortunately racist abuse in football is nothing new – England have been subjected to it before, as recently as March in Montenegro – this will hopefully prove a watershed moment. No longer will the sport put up with it.
Bulgaria are already subject to a part stadium closure for their home game against Czech Republic in November. That is not enough. Stadium closures don’t work. Banners don’t work. Fines don’t work. Harsher punishment is needed.
“This is unacceptable at any level of the game and our immediate focus is supporting the players and staff involved,” the Football Association said in a statement. “We will be asking Uefa to investigate as a matter of urgency.”
Despite the disgraceful circumstances they were presented with, England managed to shine. Under Southgate they have taken on a mature, intelligent front and they were a credit to themselves, using the correct channels to report abuse while systematically dismantling the opponent in front of them.
Ross Barkley took full advantage of the porous home defence, twice arriving late in the box to bury finishes in the first half. Raheem Sterling bagged two either side of half time with composed strikes.
Marcus Rashford proved he can play on the left of a 4-3-3 formation, ending a run of five club games without a goal by smashing in a venomous early strike from a tight angle. And Harry Kane, who had up until then settled for creating four of England’s five goals, got the final one with a composed finish.
On and off the pitch England were impressive. “We’ve managed to make two statements,” Southgate explained. “By winning the game, but also we have raised the awareness of the situation.”
Main image credit: Getty Images