Seven time F1 world champion says endemic racial discrimination has no place in football, yet countless news outlets suggest otherwise
SIR Lewis Hamilton has taken to Instagram to condemn the continuous scapegoating of Black England players in the media, reports Vlad Andrejevic.
The Three Lions produced an underwhelming performance in their last Euro 2024 warm-up match against Iceland, with many players off the pace during the defeat, yet images of Bukayo Saka appeared on the front and back covers of multiple media outlets despite him only coming on in the 65th minute.
This prompted Hamilton, who has consistently been very outspoken against racism, to share a post from the website Versus calling for accountability from the British media.
We need to hold the English media accountable for systemically vilifying Black players. The constant scapegoating of Black players needs to stop
Sir Lewis Hamilton
The post opens with: “We need to hold the English media accountable for systemically vilifying Black players. The constant scapegoating of Black players needs to stop. This endemic racial discrimination has no place in football, yet countless news outlets suggest otherwise.”
Ex-England international and current pundit Ian Wright also commented on the issue, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to call out the practices of some of the media companies whilst urging positivity towards those affected, despite the negative coverage.
“Now more than ever let’s get behind & support these young people. We can all see what’s happening & who’s being set up to be the face of defeat. We are going to be gas lit with explanations & justifications, but those deciding who goes on the back pages know what they’re doing. Let’s keep our energy focused on giving these players pure love & support throughout the tournament.”
Saka was one of England players who suffered appalling online racial abuse following the Three Lions’ penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the final of the previous Euros in 2021, along with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
England players held talks with the police last month about the measures that will be taken to deal with racist abuse on social media ahead of the European Championship this summer.
Let’s keep our energy focused on giving these players pure love & support throughout the tournament
Ian Wright
UK football policing head Mark Roberts explained that reporting abuse to the police will lead to investigations being pursued, stating that there would be “real-world consequences” for the perpetrators.
Roberts and his team also offered further technical recommendations to protect the players. “We’ve given them some advice on how they can protect themselves with setting up their own accounts to try and prevent it happening, and to reassure them that we are there.”
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