“I am German when we win, immigrant when we lose” was a powerful and hard hitting statement by five time German Player of the Year Mesut Ozil as he announced his decision to no longer play for the German team. The German-Turkish footballer was pictured with Turkish president Erdogan, sparking a series of debates across Germany and the world about his loyalty, not just as a footballer but a German citizen.
Fast forward to three years later and England lost to Italy 3-2 in the finals of Euro 2020. Three black players, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka missed their penalties, as reported by the football news media. What was conveniently left out was that two out of the three had barely featured all tournament and expecting them to score a penalty at such a crucial stage of the competition, having barely kicked a ball was a recipe for disaster. Moreover, Bukayo Saka, a 19 year old was entrusted with the most crucial penalty kick of them all, despite the presence of more senior and experienced players in the squad.
It came as absolutely no surprise that what followed was a barrage of hate on social media. There was an outrage by a section of disgruntled England fans who could not bear the fact that ‘It was not coming home’ anymore, and the scapegoats for the result were none other than the three black players who missed their penalties. If that wasn’t bad enough, public places were vandalized, Italian fans were beaten up, a stampede took place outside the Wembley stadium in a chaotic aftermath.
Even the nation's darling Marcus Rashford was not spared, despite his exceptional contribution off the field in feeding the nation's underprivileged children. There was vile abuse for the speedy winger to return to Africa, monkey emoji messages and even death threats despite the fact that Rashford chose to play for England even though he requires surgery on his shoulder and foot.
However, there were also fans who spoke against the outspoken minority of racists, expressing their support for the Three Lions’ admirable Euro 2020 campaign and sent letters of love and support at Marcus Rashford’s mural in Withington, Manchester, covering the abhorrent vandalism of the artwork in a fitting tribute to the selfless contribution of the player.
Most importantly, the racism that athletes face on a regular basis on social media is just a reflection of the issues that plague society at large. Social media is giving them a platform to amplify their messages of hate and more needs to be done to regulate these accounts. However, a band aid of social media censoring is not the long term cure for a persistent problem that dates back centuries, there needs to be a reform in the educational system to eradicate hate and racism from the minds of our impressionable future.
