Could England vs Bulgaria have been abandoned because of racist chanting?

GARETH SOUTHGATE’s side romped to a 6-0 victory in Sofia as they took a huge stride towards Euro 2020.

But the match will be remembered for horrendous racial abuse directed at England players, with a section of the home support targeting Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings with racist chanting throughout the first half.

Could England vs Bulgaria have been abandoned because of racist chanting?

UEFA have a three-stage policy when it comes to racist chanting.

Stage one was put into force just twenty minutes into England’s game in Sofia, shortly after they had gone 2-0 up against the hosts, with a PA announcement made at the Vasil Levski National Stadium.

And Gareth Southgate informed the fourth official on 42 minutes that the chanting was continuing with the game halted once again.

If all three guidelines are put into effect, the game could theoretically be abandoned:

1. The referee halts play and an announcement is made over the PA system, demanding that the behaviour stop immediately.
2. If the abuse continues once play restarts, the official will suspend the match for a “reasonable period of time”, while both teams will return to the dressing rooms.
3. The third and final step sees the referee abandon the match entirely.

The new protocol was brought in late last year but Raheem Sterling revealed that England players were unaware of it when experiencing similar issues against Montenegro in March.

He revealed: “In Montenegro, I don’t think, as a team, we were quite prepared and knew that there was a protocol in place.

“We had a meeting as a group and Gareth sat us down and explained Uefa’s protocol and now, as players, we’ve got to give Uefa a chance to take that responsibility on board and deal with the situation. At this moment in time, yes, I have got full faith in Uefa.”

Bulgaria have already been charged by the Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body due to racist behaviour by their supporters, with 5,000 seats left empty for the visit of England.

What happens if a game is abandoned?

UEFA have gone in strong on racist abuse and are determined to stamp it from the game.

If England had just walked off the pitch without consent of the referee – as Tammy Abraham indicated they might this week – they would be seen to be forfeiting the game by official rules.

But due to the circumstances, it’s unlikely that Uefa would have punished the Three Lions with a default 3-0 loss.

England rode things out in Sofia, but if the referee abandons the game for further abuse it would likely have been defaulted as a 3-0 England win.