Southgate’s England stars ready to walk off the pitch if they suffer racist abuse
GARETH SOUTHGATE’S England stars are ready to walk off the pitch if they suffer racial abuse in the Czech Republic or Bulgaria.
The Three Lions boss confirmed they will follow Uefa’s protocol in tackling racism in their next two European Championship qualifiers.
Bulgaria’s Sofia stadium will be partially closed on Uefa orders after racism during two previous games.
And Southgate confirmed: “We’re very clear across all of our staff what needs to happen, what the procedure will be.
“It’s important to pick that up with the players because we haven’t done that post Montenegro because we have had two home games since.”
England’s black players Danny Rose, Raheem Sterling and Callum Hudson-Odoi suffered vile racist abuse during England’s 5-1 triumph in Podgorica in March.
Rose was angry when Montenegro were fined just £17,253 and ordered to play their next home match behind closed doors, fuming: “I don’t think it’s a harsh enough punishment.
And Southgate added: “This is a serious topic, so we’ve got to make sure we are giving it the respect it deserves.
“We’re very clear, but it was a little less clear to me in Montenegro.
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“However, we’ve seen in the last few weeks a couple of games have been stopped in Italy. One last week, where the referee stopped the game and warned the crowd.
“The next stage of that would be the game stops, the referee takes the players off the pitch and the third step would be an abandonment of the game. That is the process.
“Now is a good moment to have the conversations about this, it’s key the players know we’re clear on what needs to happen.”
