Racist abuse tarnishes England win in Montenegro
European football's governing body Uefa has been urged to take strong action over racist incidents in yesterday morning's (Singapore time) Euro 2020 qualifier between Montenegro and England in Podgorica and will receive a report from an independent monitoring group.
England defender Danny Rose was subjected to monkey chants and Callum Hudson-Odoi and Raheem Sterling, scorer of England's final goal in the 5-1 win, were also targeted, with racist abuse heard throughout the game, reported Reuters.
Sterling called for Montenegro supporters to be banned from matches, while England manager Gareth Southgate said he would report the incidents to Uefa.
As well as a complaint from the English FA, Uefa will also examine the referee's report and the official report from their own match delegate.
Independent monitoring group Fare had an observer at the game and said it will also submit a report.
Uefa said it will not comment until its disciplinary body has received those reports while Fare said their evidence would be sent to the Swiss-based body.
"We had an observer present who picked up evidence of racial abuse. Our monitoring team have been compiling the evidence we have before presenting it to Uefa," Fare said in a statement.
"We hope that Uefa will act decisively, the sanctions that could be applied for an offence of this kind range from a partial stadium closure to full stadium closure."
England manager Gareth Southgate said he had no doubt that the abuse took place.
"I definitely heard abuse of Danny Rose when he got booked at the end of the game. It's not acceptable," said the 48-year-old.
Forward Sterling, who cupped his ears when celebrating his goal in front of the home fans, told Sky Sports: "I didn't hear (racist chanting) personally but Danny (Rose) made it clear and (made me) aware that's what they were doing, so I just wanted to show them that they were going to need more than that to upset us and stop us."
Hudson-Odoi, however, said he heard the abuse.
Said the 18-year-old: "When me and Rosey went over there, they were saying, 'ooh aa aa' monkey stuff and we just have to keep our heads and keep a strong mentality."
Montenegro boss Ljubisa Tumbakovic, meanwhile, said he didn't hear any racist chants.
"I have not noticed nor heard any chanting. The first time I have heard this is now," he said at the post-match press conference.
The Montenegrin FA later said that it would ban any supporters found to have racially abused England's players.
Regardless of the spotlight generated on the incidents at Gradski Stadion Podgorica, former England striker Ian Wright believes nothing will change.
He said on ITV Sport: "It will probably go to Uefa and they'll be fined a pittance and we'll get the same thing again here the next time or somewhere else in Europe. It's not going to stop them."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now