British police have arrested 11 people as part of an investigation into alleged racist crimes directed against some black players in the England national team after the defeat in the Euro 2020 final on July 11.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targets for fouls after they missed their penalty kicks with Italy, which decided the match after a 1-1 draw.
The incident sparked a police investigation, and was widely denied by the England national team, royalty, and political and religious leaders.
The UK’s Football Police unit said 207 social media posts had been identified as criminal, of which 123 were for foreign individuals and 34 were for Britons.
“There are people who think they can hide behind a social media profile and get away with posting outrageous comments. They need a rethink,” Mark Roberts, National Police Football Command Council chief, said in a statement.
“We have investigators proactively looking for offensive comments related to the match, and if they reach a criminal threshold, those who post them will be arrested.”
“Our investigation is continuing at a good pace, and we are grateful to those who took the time to report racist posts to us.”
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