MX23RW : Friday, November 15 22:35:25| >> :600:137436:137436:
[monks data]
Bulgaria national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Oct 14, 2019 at 7.45pm UK
 
England national football team

0-6

FT(HT: 0-4)
Rashford (7'), Barkley (20', 32'), Sterling (45', 69'), Kane (85')

Gary Neville demands stronger action over "sickening" racist abuse

Gary Neville demands stronger action over
© Reuters
The punishment handed to Bulgaria over the racist abuse of England players has been criticised by anti-racism campaign groups.

Gary Neville believes it will take a team to walk off the pitch for a sea change to happen in the fight against racism, and believes England's players are brave enough to do it.

The Bulgarian federation was ordered to play one match behind closed doors, with a further match suspended for a period of two years, and fined just under £65,000 for the racist behaviour of their supporters during the Euro 2020 qualifier against England in Sofia on October 14.

England players and staff were subjected to monkey chanting, and some supporters in Bulgarian sections of the stadium could be seen making Nazi salutes.

European football's governing body UEFA has been widely criticised over the sanctions, which have been described as being too lenient.

Former England and Manchester United defender Neville, now a Sky Sports pundit, can see the issue coming to a head soon when a team decides it has had enough and leaves the pitch.

"Everybody would have supported the players and Gareth Southgate in walking off the pitch, but then what I would expect is that if they were punished for that, that other nations would support England and withdraw from the competition," he said.

"That's what is going to need to happen here – nations are going to need to take it into their own hands because the governing body are not dealing with it in a satisfactory manner.

"Some of the greatest changes that have been stimulated in society have been through individuals being brave, and we have got some brave, young individuals within that England squad who are not going to take it any more."

Neville says "significant pain" has to be inflicted on associations whose supporters are found guilty of racist behaviour.

He told Sky Sports News: "If you started to fine countries millions of pounds you would then start to see significant action.

"There needs to be significant pain, every act of racism should be punished heavily and essentially £65,000 and a couple of games (behind closed doors) isn't impacting it.

"I was aware of it in the 1980s, the bananas being thrown onto the pitch, the abuse that players like John Barnes used to receive playing for England, and it's despicable. And when you're still hearing it in 2019, it's sickening."

ID:376825: cacheID:376825:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4994:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Bulgaria's national stadium Vasil Levski pictured in October 2019
Read Next:
Bulgaria ordered to play behind closed doors after racist abuse
>
Read more about Gary Neville Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Cyprus Cyprus00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Norway Norway00000
Q Scotland flag Scotland00000
Q Spain Spain00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France00000
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar00000
3 Greece Greece00000
Q Netherlands Netherlands00000
5 Ireland Rep. Ireland00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England00000
Q Italy Italy00000
3 Malta flag Malta00000
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia00000
5 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Armenia Armenia00000
Q Croatia Croatia00000
3 Latvia Latvia00000
Q Turkey Turkey00000
5 Wales flag Wales00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania00000
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands00000
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova00000
5 Poland Poland00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria00000
2 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan00000
Q Belgium Belgium00000
4 Estonia Estonia00000
5 Sweden Sweden00000

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bulgaria Bulgaria00000
Q Hungary Hungary00000
3 Lithuania Lithuania00000
4 Montenegro Montenegro00000
Q Serbia Serbia00000

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark00000
2 Finland Finland00000
3 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan00000
4 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland00000
5 San Marino flag San Marino00000
Q Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Andorra flag Andorra00000
2 Belarus Belarus00000
3 Israel Israel00000
4 Kosovo flag Kosovo00000
Q Romania Romania00000
Q Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina00000
2 Iceland Iceland00000
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein00000
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg00000
Q Portugal Portugal00000
Q Slovakia Slovakia00000


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!