Originally published 2021-07-15.
Within days of England's defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final in July 2021, more than a million people had signed an online petition calling for anyone guilty of racist abuse to be banned from football matches in England for life. It was a response to the flood of racist messages sent to three young Black England players. The petition did not lead to lifetime bans, but the UK did change the law so online racists can now be barred from stadiums.
What happened at Wembley
The final was played at Wembley Stadium on 11 July 2021. Luke Shaw scored for England in the second minute, Leonardo Bonucci equalised for Italy, and the game ended 1-1 after extra time. Italy won the penalty shoot-out 3-2.
Marcus Rashford hit the post, Jadon Sancho's kick was saved, and 19-year-old Bukayo Saka's final attempt was stopped by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Within minutes, all three were targeted with racist insults and emojis on social media.
A mural of Rashford in Withington, Manchester, was also defaced that night. Many reports described the graffiti as racist. Greater Manchester Police later said the vandalism itself was "not racial," though it was widely seen as part of the backlash. Local people quickly covered the damage with hearts, flags and messages of support, and the mural was restored within days.
Who started the petition and what it asked for
The petition was launched on Change.org on 12 July 2021, the morning after the final, by three friends who signed it as #TheThreeHijabis. It was addressed to the Football Association, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. It passed a million signatures within days and eventually topped 1.2 million.
Its message was simple. The organisers said that, as multi-racial fans, they felt represented by Gareth Southgate's diverse and inclusive squad, and that the players who had stood up for everyone now needed fans to stand up for them. They asked the FA and the government to ban anyone who carried out racist abuse, online or offline, "from all football matches in England for life."
The FA had already condemned the abuse that night, saying anyone behind such behaviour was "not welcome in following the team." Southgate called the abuse unforgivable, and Johnson promised that people guilty of racist abuse online would be banned from matches.
How the government responded
Football banning orders already existed in England and Wales, but they mainly covered violence, disorder and racist chanting inside or around grounds. In January 2022 the Home Office announced they would be extended to football-related racist abuse online, through an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which became law later that year.
A banning order is not lifelong. It stops a person attending regulated matches for between three and ten years, and breaking it is a criminal offence that can bring up to six months in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Orders can follow a conviction, or police and prosecutors can apply to a court for one. At the time, more than 1,300 such orders were in force across England and Wales. Campaigners welcomed the change but noted that it depends on abusers being identified, which is often difficult when accounts are anonymous or based abroad. Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "Racism is unacceptable and for too long football has been marred by this shameful prejudice."
The police investigation
The Metropolitan Police received around 600 reports of abuse after the final and judged about 207 of them to be potentially criminal. Many accounts were traced to other countries, but dozens were in the UK. Several people were arrested within days, and a number were later convicted for the messages they sent. The case added pressure on social media companies to do more to identify and remove abusive accounts.
Why the issue goes beyond one match
Online racist abuse of footballers was not new in 2021. Players had spoken for years about receiving messages after missed chances or poor results, and clubs and players briefly boycotted social media in April 2021 in protest. What made the Euro 2020 final different was the scale of public anger and the sense that these players, who had spoken out on issues such as child food poverty and racism, deserved far better.
Saka, Rashford and Sancho all responded with dignity. Rashford said he would never apologise for who he was or where he came from, and Saka wrote that he had known instantly the kind of hate he was about to receive. Their words were shared millions of times and helped turn a painful night into a wider conversation about racism in British society, not only in sport.
The response also showed something hopeful. The crowd that gathered at Rashford's mural, the million-plus signatures and the support from teammates made clear that most fans wanted racists out of the game.
What fans can do about online abuse
- Report abusive posts directly to the platform rather than sharing them, which only spreads the message further.
- Report suspected hate crimes to the police or through True Vision, the UK's online hate crime reporting service, or report incidents to Kick It Out, football's equality charity.
- Support players publicly and challenge abuse when you see it in person at matches.
Sources: Change.org: Ban racists for life from all football matches in England; Wikipedia: UEFA Euro 2020 final; GOV.UK: Racist online trolls banned from football stadiums by new law (January 2022); earlier coverage by I Heart Intelligence.
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