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Unfortunately, even now in 2019 racism is a problem in football and in general. It is hard to understand that in an age where people are so educated and advanced in so many ways that they still indulge in such activities. However, this is an issue that is occurring more frequently, and it is very sad to see.
Even before the England match against Bulgaria when the team said that they would walk off if they were subjected to racial abuse there had been various racist incidents in the English Football League this season. However, the match against Bulgaria was watched very closely because of all the pre-match discussion about racism. During the game, the fans were doing monkey chants, Nazi Salutes and fans targeting Tyron Mings, who was making his England debut. Even though his debut will be remembered for the racism he acted very professionally and walked over to the ref to inform him. The match was paused twice, and the announcer had to say to stop the racist actions. After the match, both the Bulgarian head coach and the president of the football association resigned because of the incidents.
This is a matter that continues in football and UEFA had not done enough to prevent it. They have issued stadium bans to clubs that have fans who engage in racist behaviour, but they need to be heavily fined or deducted points until the fans understand that there are serious consequences. This is a hard task that they need to tackle, however, it should be their top priority because the problem is not getting any better it just seems to be getting worse, and they need the help of governments in order to really solve this issue.
A statement released by UEFA’s president said that the football family must wage war on racists. However, the punishment that they hand to Bulgaria will speak louder than its words. Hopefully, this is an issue that can leave the sport as it is something that is starting to taint the reputation.
