London: England star Raheem Sterling has called on the Premier League to show the way to other European countries in the fight against racism.
Sterling and his England teammates were subjected to racist chants during Sunday’s 5-1 victory in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro in Podgorica. Sterling reacted by pulling his ears in front of the home fans when he scored England’s fifth goal, with a missile thrown in his direction in retaliation.
Speaking after the game, the Manchester City winger demanded a stadium ban for Montenegro as punishment, while the Football Association released a statement on Tuesday which condemned ‘abhorrent racist chanting’ during the game at the Gradski Stadion.
Sterling also faced alleged racist abuse while playing for City at Chelsea in December. Sterling is adamant the Premier League clubs and authorities must set an example by taking a zero-tolerance approach.
“Banning one or two people is not going to change anything,” Sterling said in quotes reported by the British media Tuesday. “That’s just one or two people and then there will be next game again and you are going to ban one or two fans again. I think there has to be a more serious take on this.
“The same rules should apply everywhere. It’s no time to be just cancelling out two people’s season tickets. I think that even if it is just two people, the whole stadium is getting it or the whole nation is getting it, so that will make people think a lot more.”
Sterling has highlighted the issue in the past, as has England teammate Danny Rose after he was racially abused during a U-21 fixture in Serbia in 2012.
Investigation opened
Madrid/London: UEFA has announced that it has charged Montenegro for racist behavior during its match against England in a recent Euro 2020 qualifiers match. The game was marred by allegations of racist chants from the home crowd directed at some of the English players, especially defender Danny Rose. “Disciplinary proceedings have been opened following the European Qualifiers group A match between Montenegro and England,” the European football governing body published on its website late Tuesday.
