Euro 2020: England's black players face racist abuse

England's Football Association said it was "appalled" and "disgusted" after racist trolls targeted black players, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka following Sunday's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.

All three players missed from the spot as Italy clinched the penalty shoot-out 3-2 after the tense nail-biting 120 minutes final finished at 1-1 after extra time.

Following the match, the social media accounts of 23-year-old Rashford and 19-year-old Saka, who missed their penalties, were flooded with abuses and slurs including monkey and banana emojis.

"We're disgusted that some of our squad –- who have given everything for the shirt this summer –- have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight's game," the England FA tweeted.

"We stand with our players."

London's Metropolitan Police said it was investigating the "offensive and racist" posts.

"We are aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the #Euro2020 final," it said in a tweet.

"This abuse is totally unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated."

Manchester United star Rashford has been racially targeted many times as he recently revealed the hate messages he received after the team’s Europa League final loss last May. 

England's players have made a strong stand against racism at the tournament, taking a knee before their games including Sunday's final. However, their stance has been criticised by conservatives who called it “gesture politics”. 

The England team also released a statement condemning the abuse directed at its players on social media.

"We're disgusted that some of our squad -- who have given everything for the shirt this summer -- have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight's game," the team tweeted.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on social media companies to remove such content from their platforms.

"Those responsible for the disgusting online abuse we have seen must be held accountable -- and social media companies need to act immediately to remove and prevent this hate", Khan said in a tweet.

English manager Gareth Southgate defended the players and said the responsibility for the penalty shootout loss “totally rests with me”. 

Southgate said the decision to select Saka for the shootout was “my call”. “I decided on the penalty takers based on what we had done in training and nobody is on their own,” he said.