Racist Bulgaria fans abuse England’s black stars with sick monkey chants and Nazi salutes
RACIST Bulgaria fans abused England’s black stars on Monday night with vile monkey chants and Nazi salutes.
The Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia was stopped twice because of the disgraceful scenes.
On a fiery night in the Bulgarian capital, it comes as:
- Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings were targeted with sick racist abuse
- Sterling hits back at racists with brilliant Ainsley Harriott GIF tweet
- Marcus Rashford praises captain Ivelin Popov after he begs fans to stop
- Bulgaria boss sensationally claims he didn’t hear racist abuse
- Mings reveals he first heard racial abuse during warm-up
- Bulgarian media tell Gareth Southgate to ‘f*** off’
- England fans sing ‘Who put the ball in the racists’ net?’
- Bulgaria PM demands FA chief Borislav Mikhailov resigns
- England go on to win crucial Euros qualification tie 6-0
Much of the sickening abuse was aimed at Raheem Sterling who scored twice in England’s 6-0 victory.
However, shortly after the match Bulgaria boss Krasimir Balakov sensationally claimed he didn’t hear racist chanting and instead blamed England fans for the unacceptable behaviour.
He said: “It is probably because the fans were unhappy with the way the team was performing. I personally did not hear the chanting.”
Bulgarian yobs targeted our black stars with monkey noises and Nazi salutes after England took the lead seven minutes into the game.
It came just five days after Borislav Mikhailov, president of the Bulgarian Football Union, insisted the country had no problem with racism.
Croatian referee Ivan Bebek first stopped the match in the 28th minute after England skipper Harry Kane protested at the abuse directed towards Sterling.
A stadium announcement then condemned the abuse and warned the match would be abandoned if it continued.
The warning had little effect and the game had to be stopped again in the 43rd minute.
It restarted again after the referee consulted with England manager Gareth Southgate.
Travelling England fans responded angrily to the racism by chanting at the Bulgarian yobs: “You know what you are – you racist b******* – you know what you are.”
As England supporters sang the National Anthem, angry Bulgarian thugs responded with Nazi salutes and offensive gestures.
Sections of Sofia’s Levski Stadium had been closed after Bulgaria were sanctioned for racist chanting during qualifiers against Kosovo and the Czech Republic.
On Monday night a group of fans dressed in black behind a “Lauta Army” banner appeared to be the source of the worst abuse.
During the half-time interval, Bulgaria captain Ivelin Popov appeared to beg racist fans to stop abusing England’s black players.
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford later praised Popov, writing on Twitter: “Also been told what the Bulgarian captain did at half-time.
“To stand alone and do the right thing takes courage and acts like that shouldn’t go unnoticed. #NoToRacism.”
After the game, Southgate was told to “f*** off” by a Bulgarian cameraman after his post-match press conference in Sofia, according to reports.
Southgate’s press conference was interrupted by a journalist who tried to convince the room that the racism witnessed by all wasn’t actually as bad as was being made out.
When the England manager was eventually allowed to finish, a Bulgarian cameraman sat next to Solhekol reportedly told the 49-year-old to “f*** off”.
England fans told of their disgust at the behaviour and praised match officials for stopping the game.
Carol Perrin, 54, a nurse from Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, said: “I think there comes a time when you must make a stand.
“If you play on and then the authorities fine the Bulgarian FA, I don’t think it makes any difference.
“This way you get the message across.
“It is about a principle. You have to put yourself in the black players’ shoes.
“Imagine how they feel? Being abused from the terraces is just terrible.”
Paul Bates, 43, said: “We were right to call their fans out and make a stand.”
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Before kick-off Balakov shrugged off racism accusations, saying it was worse in England.
He added: “I don’t think we have a problem.
“In the Bulgarian championship, we have a lot of players of different ethnicities and skin colour. I don’t think we have this big problem like, for example, England do.”
Sport minister Nigel Adams said he expects “tough action” from Uefa. He tweeted last night: “Racism should never be tolerated.”
Former England striker Ian Wright slammed Europe’s governing body and stormed: “That says everything you need to know about Uefa. They’ve done nothing.
“We’re looking at a stadium where half of it is closed. That’s the extent of what they feel they’ve done to combat racism in this country.
“We’ve seen a set of people there that have no respect, do not care and need being educated. It just goes to show Uefa for what they are. They’re doing nowhere near enough.
“As a black player, we’ve heard it for many years about walking off and it’s something that you do not want to do.
“You want the white players to do that for you so you can go off together because you’re a team.
“When you do that and you can see how powerful it is, it can do something.”
Hate yob predictor
POLICE can predict spikes in hate crime by using a computer algorithm, boffins claim.
Rises in online abuse are followed by real-life racially or religiously motivated crimes in the same area, Cardiff University experts discovered.
Their HateLab project analysed Twitter posts and crime data in London from 2013 to 2014.
Project director Professor Matthew Williams said it could let police forces target manpower where they notice a surge in “hate tweets”.