Raheem Sterling, England’s star footballer says that he and his teammates must keep their anti-racism stand in order for the abuse of football to be addressed.
Three Lions star Tony Stewart said that incidents of racism within the sport and in society had been highlighted. However, they were’swept under the rug’ within days.
Man City’s forward was guest editor of Radio 4 Today this morning. He made these comments during a conversation with Gareth Southgate, his international manager.
In the interview they spoke out about their decision to sit on the ground before games, and Sterling’s belief that it will continue to be important.
Southgate revealed that the decision to stand up against racism was made after England’s stars were subjected to racial abuse by Montenegro opposition fans.
Sterling also addressed earlier in the summer racist comments directed at England team-mates Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Bukayo Saka.
After missing penalties at Wembley’s Euro 2020 Final defeat to Italy, the Three Lions players were targeted online by trolls.
A BBC report that was not included in Radio 4’s broadcast today found that the vast majority of the people who used the cruel language were not England supporters and most lived abroad.
In an interview about abuse by his teammates, the 27 year-old football star stated that the game has high stakes. They are likely intoxicated. People are likely to say and do a lot of things.
Raheem Sterling, England’s star footballer (pictured), says that more needs to be done in order for racism in football to remain in the forefront.
Sterling addressed racism suffered by Bukayo Saka, teammate (photo: Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford earlier in the summer).
“Sometimes when I get angry I do my best to make it as bad as I can at one person. You either want to provoke anger or get a response.
“But we must not disrespect, belittle or denigrate another person’s skin colour.
“So that is how I feel about that particular aspect, that is the truly disappointing thing.” Negative comments about skin colour should not be made if you are frustrated.
Southgate, when asked about the abuse, said that it was sad that such targeted players were being made.
He praised the vast majority of England supporters, saying they had united behind the football stars.
“What’s most frustrating is that these players had purchased everyone for thirty days or whatever, and then we experienced a setback and lost, and now we will let this division go.
“I didn’t like that at all.” It was actually something that I really enjoyed, even though there was an awful reaction from many, it was still a minority. However, the vast majority of fans and the public said, “actually, we’re not having this. We are with Bakayo Marcus Jadon and Jadon. Everyone else can do what they want.”
It’s hard to bear that.
In addition to talking with Sterling’s mother Nadine during the interview, the forward spoke about taking the knee.
This was after much debate over the gesture in pre-match, and it became an established part of high-level football following the death of George Floyd last summer in the USA.
Some supporters booed the knee believing it to be a link to Black Lives Matter, which openly admits to being Marxist and was previously criticised for its views regarding the Israel-Palestine war.
Managers and players tried to disengage themselves by insisting that they were calling for the end of racism in football as well as taking a stand against racial inequalities in society.
Southgate previously commented on the controversy, saying that he believed there was a problem with some people believing it to be a political position they disagree with.
“That’s not why the players do it. We’re supporting one another.”
Sterling spoke with England’s boss today about his decision to speak out against racism after Danny Rose, a Tottenham player, and Man City’s star, was targeted in Montenegro by supporters of the opposition.
England won 5-1 at home with fans of Balkan nation sides.
Sterling interviewed England boss John Sterling today. He revealed that the England boss made the decision to take a stand against racism after Danny Rose (pictured: Southgate talks about Rose’s arrest after he was subjected in Montenegro to racist abuses).
Raheem sterling, England, celebrates scoring in the 2019 Montenegro Game – Danny Rose and he were both subject to racist abuses by opposing fans
It drew wide condemnation from England’s set-up and Three Lions fan, as well as British media. Uefa then ordered Montenegro that they play the next game without any spectators.
Speaking about how the incident had influenced the players to later take the knee, Southgate said: ‘This decision we took last year from a team perspective really started in Montenegro when Raheem, Danny suffered abuse during the game.
I was not aware of it until Danny Rose’s booking, which caused a crowd reaction.
“I did not know that there was racist abuse taking place on the other pitch.
“So, when we arrived in the changing rooms, I started to have a go at Danny about getting booked. I then had to apologize on board for it after suddenly discovering that this was actually happening in the game.
“I didn’t like that they thought they couldn’t talk about it at half time in the changing area, so it was like “God, this is terrible!”
“How does it happen that our players can be physically abused and don’t feel safe reporting this to us or feeling like anything is happening?”
“But, at the minimum, this team had to be united in what we saw and could communicate a message for young children watching.”
Sterling said that some players had doubted whether they should stop kneeling in the lead-up to England’s Euro 2020 run.
The forward, who scored four times in England’s Euro 2020 campaign, said: ‘The question was, are we going to keep doing it (taking the knee).
“And I believe that a lot when racism is brought up or something has occurred, a lot more times in football than in society as a whole, we tend not to deal with it for the five days or the week and then sweep it under the rug.
“Then, when the next situation happens, that’s when it’s when you go again. This was just a reminder.
“Yes. There have been many times when we sat together as a group and asked, “Is this message still strong?” We’ve all said yes as a collective and we just want to continue that.
Today’s broadcast was made after an investigation by the BBC, which is not being mentioned on this morning’s program, showed that most of those who attacked Three Lions players with racist comments via social media weren’t England fans, but lived abroad.
After missing penalties against Italy in the Euro 2020 Final, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Bukayo Saka were sent banana, monkey and gorilla emojis.
Sterling, (pictured right), admitted that some players had been questioning whether they should stop kneeling in advance of England’s Euro 2020 final run. Southgate (pictured left) said that his decision to stand up against racism was based on an incident in 2019, when Danny Rose, a Tottenham star, and Sterling were both targeted in Montenegro by supporters of the opposition.
Boris Johnson of the FA and Prince William condemned the abusive behavior, while William reacted with fury at the ignorant racists.
England was labeled a racist country with an “ingrained culture to intolerance” in response to the Euro 2020 final’s racism. Some claim that Britain’s exit from the EU has made it worse.
A BBC investigation revealed later that most of the racists who were sent abuses to the UK weren’t from there.
The majority of these were non-Britons, living overseas, and some had far-right sympathies.
A man living 2,000 miles away from Britain, in Saudi Arabia, confessed that he sent Saka monkey emoticons while watching the match against Italy.
When confronted, he admitted to the BBC that he was sorry and had just been caught up watching the match with friends.
“It was a huge mistake, because I was mad and I wasn’t sure what he would feel after seeing the monkeys. Saka needs my deepest apology. This was a terrible mistake.
The man also stated that Instagram suspended him only for 24 hours. But, he feels he should have been banned permanently because the post he posted was racist.
Centre for Countering Digital Hate researchers found that 79 of the 105 accounts they flagged did not get deleted or suspended for six weeks. These are troubling questions for the social media giants who claimed to have a policy against racism in their networks following abuse against England stars.
A number of arrests were made in the UK, including Scott McCluskey, 43, of Runcorn, who posted racist and insulting comments about the three stars.
At Warrington Magistrates’ Court in September, McCluskey pleaded guilty to a charge of Sending by a Public Communication Network an offensive message.
Nicholas Sanders District Judge sentenced him to fourteen weeks imprisonment with suspended sentences for 18 months.
Raheem Sterling says, “There’s nothing more significant than winning a major championship with England.”
MailOnline by Kieran Lynch
Manchester City’s star Raheem sterling insists that winning major tournaments with England is more important than anything else.
Gareth Southgate’s team came so close to winning their 55th major trophy, but lost out to penalties by Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
Sterling, who scored three goals for England and was named Team of the Tournament by UEFA, was one of the top performers in the tournament.
Raheem sterling has asked why people are congratulating him after England’s Euro 2020 defeat
The 27-year old has however questioned the reason people were congratulating him after the tournament. After the disappointment at not being able to lift the trophy at Wembley,
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Sterling said: ‘The last couple of years with Gareth (Southgate) you can see the steps we’ve been making as a team on the field and off the field.
“Everyone who was there after the Euro 2020 tournament was congratulating and I was just like, “congratulation for what?”
“They were like, “no, you had an amazing tournament” – I was like, “that’s really not what the team set to do. It was really disappointing.
It was great, and we still want to win a trophy. You can’t beat that as a player.
Sterling feels that England has qualified for the World Cup in Qatar next year and believes that the Three Lions are capable of winning the title.
He added, “I think that we have players at right ages and challenging for right things. They have the mentality of being the best in their situation.
Sterling believes that winning an England major trophy is more important than anything else
“We are fortunate to have an amazing manager who tries to provide the right environment for us to excel.”
Sterling joked with Gareth Southgate, who was part of the interview, that his comments would earn him a seat on Qatar 2022’s plane.
England led the Euro 2020 final with Luke Shaw. However, Leonardo Bonucci was able to tie it.
Italy took the trophy with a win by removing Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sáncho from the penalty spot.