England star Raheem Sterling will lead fellow England players and other Premier League stars in a campaign to combat racism this weekend.
Manchester City ace Sterling was among the England players racially abused amid shameful scenes in Monday night’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia.
And it is understood Sterling will feature in a video connected to the league’s ‘No Room for Racism’ campaign which will be shown at Premier League games over the next two weekends.
Bournemouth forward Callum Wilson and Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who also featured for England on Monday, are also involved in the promotional material, along with Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool and Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, who were unused substitutes against Bulgaria.
Other players involved include Tottenham’s Son Heung-min and Norwich’s Teemu Pukki.
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The initiative was always due to happen now and the timing has nothing to do with events events in Sofia this week – although the Premier League’s interim chief executive Richard Masters admits the shocking scenes have given the campaign some added impetus.
Masters was watching on television at home as sections of the Bulgarian support racially abused England’s black players and performed Nazi salutes.
And he said: “I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.
“I can’t recall ever seeing anything like that before. Clearly you had an organised group of people making Nazi salutes and monkey chants, visible to anyone who was watching the television feed.
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“And then the (first step of UEFA’s anti-racism) protocol being activated, and then (supporters) streaming out, seemingly nonchalant to the impact they were having, I thought it was terrible.
“I thought that ITV, the players, Gareth and the FA dealt with it in an exemplary fashion.”
No Room For Racism involves the Premier League, the Football Association, the EFL, the Professional Footballers’ Association and anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out.
The Premier League is working to help make reporting of discriminatory behaviour easier, and is developing training for stewards to respond to such reports effectively.
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Away from events in stadiums, another major issue this season from a domestic point of view has been social media abuse directed at Premier League players such as Abraham, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba.
Masters says discussions are ongoing with Twitter and says the social media giant is “really trying” to stamp down on racist abuse on the platform.
He added: “Our fans share the belief that racism has no place in football or wider society, but discrimination still exists among a minority.
“We will not tolerate racism in any form and urge anybody who witnesses racist behaviour to report it.”
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Kick It Out has pledged its support to the initiative, and will continue to run its own campaigns independently.
A Kick It Out spokesman said: “We’re pleased to see the Premier League continue their work to tackle racism in football through their No Room For Racism campaign, which includes a commitment to promoting reporting methods such as the Kick It Out app.
“Kick It Out works closely with the Premier League, as well as the EFL, the FA and PFA, and as such will always support their efforts to make football a more inclusive place for all.
“As an independent charity, we will continue to run our own campaigns to tackle all forms of discrimination and throughout this season, professional clubs in England will once again be dedicating a fixture to our work under the theme of our new #KickItOutGeneration campaign.”
