England's Saka asks social media to combat racist abuse

England's Bukayo Saka. ddp images

England's Bukayo Saka asks social media to combat racist abuse

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 7/15/21

England's Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targets of online racist abuse after they missed their spot kicks during Sunday's penalty shootout loss to Italy in the UEFA European Championship final.

Saka took to social media Thursday to apologize for Sunday's result, thank supporters for positive messages and ask outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to do more to combat racist abuse and similar hate-filled messages.

pic.twitter.com/KAibQRYH2T
— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) July 15, 2021

"To the social media platforms Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, 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," Saka wrote, as noted by Reuters, via ESPN.

"I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages."

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to meet with Facebook and Twitter earlier this week to discuss racist messages sent via those services, and at least four individuals have been arrested on accusations of racially abusing players.

Reuters also reported Thursday that Facebook is involved in discussions with UK law enforcement officials to support ongoing and future investigations into accounts linked with racist messages. Guilty parties could ultimately be permanently banned from attending football matches throughout England.

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