Playing their first match after the heart-breaking final of the UEFA European Championship 2020, England defeated Hungary 4-0 at Puskas Arena on Thursday.
With this victory, Gareth Southgate’s men now won all of their four matches in the Group I of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, and though there are still six games to be played, the Euro 2020 silver medalists are highly likely to make a direct entry in that tournament.
However, while the action of the pitch was fluent and flawless from the Three Lions, some incidents off-the-pitch hampered the match. The visitors were subjected to racial abuse by the home fans at Budapest, while some fans even threw cups at the English players.
The incident has garnered a strong reaction from the global football fraternity, who have asked for harsh punishment from FIFA. While the global football governing body is yet to take any step, they have promised that they will take adequate actions once they receive the match report.
“FIFA strongly rejects any form of racism and violence and has a very clear zero tolerance stance for such behavior in football. FIFA will take adequate actions as soon as it receives match reports concerning yesterday’s Hungary-England game,”
FIFA wrote in a statement, as per quotes in Miami Herald.
According to reports, Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling were subjected to ‘monkey’ chants. Many former footballers have condemned this act of the Hungarian fans, while prime minister Boris Johnson has also urged strong action against those involved.
While FIFA’s statement might have assured some, many have raised concerns about whether the football governing body is doing enough to stop racial abuse, which is a recurring occurrence.
“The question for us is why FIFA didn’t act to prevent this, and why the global football system didn’t work together to prevent this,”
said Tony Burnett, the chief of anti-racism organization Kick It Out.
