England coach Gareth Southgate has reacted to the alleged racist abuse that marred his side’s clash with Montenegro on Monday.
England defeated Montenegro by five goals to one, but the game, which was a Euro 2020 qualifier, was ruined by alleged racist abuse towards the black players in the England squad.
Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose were the victims on the night and when Southgate was questioned about the incident at the end of the game, he said the issue will be reported to UEFA.
“I definitely heard abuse of Danny Rose when he got booked at the end of the game. There’s no doubt in my mind that happened and we’ll report it to Uefa. It’s not acceptable,” said Southgate.
Asked whether Sterling also experienced abuse after the forward celebrated by putting his hands to his ears in front of the Montenegro fans: “I’m not sure about Raheem.
“I had a quick chat with Danny but I’ve not had a chance to speak to Raheem. I know what I heard. We’ll definitely deal with it in the right way and we have to make sure we support our players.”
Southgate went on to praise Rose’s character saying that he’s got a strong mentality and he’s a strong guy which will make everything okay.
“If anything we’ll have a chat and discuss what happened, but he’s got a strong mentality, he’s a strong guy so I think everything will be good. Hopefully UEFA deal with it.”
Sterling took to Twitter in the immediate aftermath having scored and assisted, tweeting: “Best way to silence the haters (and yeah I mean racists) #2019 #getsomeeducation”.
Hudson-Odoi enjoyed a memorable first England start for the Three Lions on the pitch but also called for Uefa to take drastic action.
“Yeah I don’t think discrimination should be anywhere,” he said. “You know we’re equal and we have to play a fair game and enjoy the moment but when you’re hearing stuff like that from the fans it’s not right. It’s unacceptable.
“I hope UEFA deal with it properly because when I went over there me and Rosey (Danny Rose) heard it. They were saying ‘oh ah ah’ and monkey stuff. We have to just keep our heads, keep a strong mentality and hopefully Rosey’s okay as well.”